Beech House Medical Practice

Updated 14 December 2016

Beech House Medical Practice is based in Hazel Grove near Stockport. There were 8,517 patients on the practice register at the time of our inspection. The practice population was predominantly working age patients with young families.

The practice is managed by three GP partners (one male, two female) and there are two salaried GPs. There are two advanced nurse practitioners (ANP), one practice nurse and one healthcare assistant and a trainee associate. The practice is recruiting an additional ANP and practice nurse. There is also a pharmacist. Members of clinical staff are supported by a practice manager, reception and administration staff.

The practice is open 8am to 6.30pm every weekday. The practice offers pre-bookable appointments from 7.30am on Monday Wednesday and Thursday and also has late appointments on alternate Mondays and Wednesdays up to 7.15pm. The practice is also open once a month on a Saturday morning. Patients requiring a GP outside of normal working hours are advised to contact the GP out of hours service by calling 111.

The practice has a Personal Medical Services (PMS) contract and has enhanced services contracts which include childhood vaccinations. The practice is part of NHS Stockport local commissioning group.

Updated 14 December 2016

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Beech House Medical Practice on 18 November. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

• The practice is situated in a purpose built health centre. The practice was clean and had good facilities including disabled access, translation services and a hearing loop.
• The practice had recently altered the staffing structure and had just recruited a pharmacist.
• There were systems in place to mitigate safety risks including analysing significant events and safeguarding.
• The practice was aware of and had systems in place to ensure compliance with the requirements of the duty of candour. (The duty of candour is a set of specific legal requirements that providers of services must follow when things go wrong with care and treatment).
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered in line with current legislation.
• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• Information about services and how to complain was available. The practice sought patient views about improvements that could be made to the service and acted, where possible, on feedback.
• Staff told us they felt valued, worked well together as a team and all felt supported to carry out their roles.

There were outstanding elements of practice including:-

• As a result of a complaint, the practice had built a bespoke website. The website was colour coded for information for specific groups of patients making it easier for patients to navigate. In addition, the practice had the corresponding information available in the waiting room by having the same colour coded scheme on separate notice boards.

• The practice had developed a patient information booklet specifically for teenagers covering a wide range of health issues that they may not wish to ask about in person.

• The practice had an information board for patients covering varying types of mental health issues. The information was set out by asking the patient what type of issue they had and then giving the patient a link to where they could access further information or self- help support.

However, the practice should

• Develop a protocol for medication reviews.
• Update the complaints practice procedure and patient information leaflet to reflect that patients can complain to NHS England as an alternative, if they do not wish to directly complain to the practice.
• Analyse trends from significant events.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 14 December 2016

The practice is rated as good for providing services for people with long term conditions. The practice had registers in place for several long term conditions including diabetes and asthma. Longer appointments and home visits were available when needed. All these patients had a structured annual review to check their health and medicines needs were being met. For those patients with the most complex needs, the GP worked with relevant health and care professionals to deliver a multidisciplinary package of care.

Two of the advanced nurse practitioners delivered the X-PERT patient course for diabetes management to help patients improve their lifestyle.

The practice was in the process of setting up patient health information evenings to discuss asthma and pre-diabetes.

Updated 14 December 2016

The practice is rated as good for providing services for families, children and young people. New baby information packs were sent out to parents of new babies to advise to attend for health checks and vaccinations. The practice regularly liaised with health visitors to review vulnerable children and new mothers. There were systems in place to identify and follow up children living in disadvantaged circumstances and who were at risk, for example, children and young people who had a high number of A&E attendances.

The practice had developed a patient information booklet specifically for teenagers covering a wide range of health issues that they may not wish to ask for in person. Information was also available on the practice website.

Updated 14 December 2016

The practice is rated as good for providing services for older people. The practice offered proactive, personalised care to meet the needs of the older people in its population and offered home visits and was allocated to look after patients for a local care home. The practice participated in meetings with other healthcare professionals to discuss any concerns. There was a named GP for the over 75s.  Advanced nurse practitioners carried out home visits for patients over 65 years old to identify any problems early.

Updated 14 December 2016

The practice is as rated good for providing services for working age people. The needs of this population group had been identified and the practice had adjusted the services it offered to ensure these were accessible. There were online systems available to allow patients to make appointments. There were extended hours appointments available.

Updated 14 December 2016

The practice is rated as good for providing services for people experiencing poor mental health. Patients experiencing poor mental health received an invitation for an annual physical health check. Those that did not attend had alerts placed on their records so they could be reviewed opportunistically. Staff told us they contacted patients with dementia to remind them of their appointment times.

The practice had an information board for patients covering varying types of mental health issues. The information was set out asking the patient what type of issue they had and then giving the patient a link to where they could access further information or self- help support.

Updated 14 December 2016

The practice is rated as good for providing services for people whose circumstances make them vulnerable. The practice held a register of patients living in vulnerable circumstances including those with a learning disability. It had carried out annual health checks and longer appointments were available for people with a learning disability.

The practice supported charity organisations, for example, the practice had previously hosted a Macmillan coffee morning.