Greendale Primary Care Centre

Updated 6 October 2016

The Greenwood & Sneinton Family Medical Centre is located in Sneinton in the city of Nottingham, and serves a diverse population of approximately 6,600 patients.

The practice is run by a partnership of six GPs, and holds a GMS contract to deliver essential primary care services.

The practice team includes includes a practice manager, a deputy practice manager, six GP partners, a salaried GP, a nurse practitioner, two practice nurses, a healthcare assistant receptionists and administrative staff. 

The practice offers appointments from 8.30am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday, and extended hours on a Tuesday evening up to 8.30pm. There is also a drop in clinic where patients can sit and wait to be seen on a daily basis.

When the practice is closed the out of hours service is provided by Nottingham Emergency Medical Services (NEMS) Community Benefit Services Ltd.

The Greenwood & Sneinton Family Medical Centre is a training practice for GP registrars (qualified doctors who are doing extra training to become GP’s) & F2 doctors ( newly qualified doctors who are  gaining experience in various specialties ).

There is a separate surgery, Sneinton Dale surgery 450 metres away, which holds a PMS contract. The two practices have worked together on an informal basis for many years, and  are in the process of formally merging . The practices currently share a practice manager and reception staff. The nurses and health care assistants from both practices have merged as one team, and now work from The Greenwood & Sneinton Family Medical Centre.

Updated 6 October 2016

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of Greenwood and Sneinton Family Medical Centre on 12 October 2015. A breach of legal requirements was found in that certain single use medical items were not in date. A robust system was not in place for checking that all single use medical items, equipment and medicines were suitable to use. 

Overall the practice was rated as good with are services safe requiring improvement in view of the above. 

After the comprehensive inspection, the practice wrote to us to say what action they had, and were taking to meet the legal requirement in relation to the breach.

We undertook a focused inspection on 22 August 2016 to check that the provider had completed the required action, and now met the legal requirements. This report covers our findings in relation to the requirements. We visited the practice as part of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Greenwood and Sneinton Family Medical Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

This inspection found that the provider had taken appropriate action to meet the legal requirements.

• The practice is rated as good for safe.
• The use of single use items, equipment and medicines had been reviewed to ensure sufficient supplies were available to meet patients needs. Items were regularly checked to ensure they were in date and appropriate to use. 

​​ ​Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 3 March 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of people with long-term conditions.

The practice had a diverse population and a significantly higher rate of patients with a diagnosis of diabetes. The practice had a proactive nurse prescriber who was responsible for creating personalised care plans for individuals who may need to manage their diabetes during the season of Ramadan when fasting is important for religious beliefs. Patients with long term conditions were offered longer appointments to ensure that their complex needs were managed safely. Other members of the GP and nursing team took the lead for caring for patients with COPD ( chronic diseases of the lungs) asthma, hypertension and heart disease. We saw evidence that these patients were provided with care plans tailored to suit individual circumstances.

Some patients with long term conditions required a medicine to keep their blood thin to prevent clotting. We saw evidence on the computer system that, there was an icon alerting the clinician to ensure regular blood tests were undertaken to ensure that they were monitored closely.

Updated 3 March 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of families, children and young people. The practice had a high proportion of families and young people on their patient list. As a result of informal patient feedback the practice had introduced a “drop in clinic” to enable flexibility of appointments. Appointments were also available out of school hours. The premises were suitable for children and young babies.

We saw evidence of meeting minutes from monthly child safeguarding meetings. During these meetings vulnerable families were reviewed frequently to ensure that their needs were anticipated and to enable the practice to provide safe effective care. The computer system had an icon which alerted the clinician and reception team if a child or family had safeguarding issues.

Updated 3 March 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of older people. There was a lead GP responsible for coordinating the care of the elderly who worked with local district nurses, the community matron and social workers to identify those individuals who were most frail and vulnerable and were at risk of hospital admission. As a result of the meetings care plans for this population were produced and tailored to suit individual needs. These care plans were then updated on a monthly basis or sooner should the need arise.

Updated 3 March 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of working-age people (including those recently retired and students). The practice had a high number of patients of working age. The practice had introduced extended hours on one evening a week and had a “drop in clinic” on a daily basis to allow flexibility of appointments for the patients’ convenience.

The practice was proactive in promoting screening, especially for bowel cancer where staff had undertaken a project to successfully increase the uptake of bowel cancer screening from 44% to 60%. This work had been presented at a national conference in order to share good practice. The practice also offered online bookings for appointments and repeat prescriptions. There were plans for the practice to start electronic prescribing. Patients aged between 40-75 were offered NHS health checks and a patient we spoke to on the day told us that staff in the practice were proactive in calling patients in for these health checks.

Updated 3 March 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia). There was a GP in the practice who was a specialist in mental health. The practice had a proactive health care assistant who took every opportunity to encourage people experiencing poor mental health to attend for their physical health check. Their current QOF data indicated that 80% of patients experiencing poor mental health had received a blood pressure check in the last year.

An icon on the practice computer system identified patients at risk of dementia. Where patients were diagnosed with dementia we saw that they had a care plan in place.

The practice told patients experiencing poor mental health about how to access various support groups and organisations. Staff had been trained as “dementia friends”.

Updated 3 March 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable. The practice held a register of patients living in vulnerable circumstances including homeless people and those with a learning disability. It had carried out annual health checks for people with a learning disability and the practice had achieved 100% in their Quality and Outcome Framework (QOF) in this area. QOF is the annual reward and incentive programme detailing GP practice achievement results. We saw evidence on the practice computer system that individuals who had a learning disability were offered longer appointments. Staff were aware of their roles and responsibilities in recognising signs of abuse in children and vulnerable adults and what action they would take to ensure patient safety. There was documentation in the clinical rooms which also provided clinicians with relevant contact details for agencies and staff who worked both in and out of hours.