Archived: Werrington Health Centre

Updated 21 January 2016

Werrington Health Centre serves approximately 7,100 patients. The branch practice, Paston Health Centre serves approximately 6,650 patients. We inspected both sites. There are a total of 13,750 patients and patients could access either health centre. Paston Health Centre is located at Chadburn, Paston, Peterborough, PE4 7DG. Both branches cover Werrington, Walton, Dogsthorpe, Central Peterborough, Gunthorpe, Paston and Eastfield boundaries. The practice holds a Primary Medical Services and is in the process of converting to a General Medical Services contract and provides GP services.

The practice is managed by three full time GP partners, three salaried GPs and one sessional GP who between them provide 51 clinical sessions per week over both sites. They are supported by three nurse practitioners who are able to prescribe for minor ailments and three practice nurses. The nurses lead on reviews such as; diabetes, other long term conditions and cervical screening. A health care assistant has been recruited to commence working in January 2016. Each site has a practice manager and both are trained phlebotomists. There are 14 receptionists/administrators employed who work varying hours.

The practice is open from 8.00am to 6.30pm each weekday and until 8pm every Thursday at Werrington Health Centre and Mondays at Paston Health Centre. The phone lines open at 8.30am for patients to make appointments. Urgent appointments are available on the day. Routine appointments can be pre-booked in advance in person, by telephone or online. Telephone consultations and home visits are available daily as required.

The practice has opted out of providing GP services to patients out of hours such as nights and weekends. During these times GP services are provided currently by a service commissioned by Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). When the practice is closed, there is a recorded message giving out of hours details. Details of the out of hours are also provided in the waiting area and the practice leaflet.

Updated 21 January 2016

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of Werrington Health Centre on 4 November 2015. The practice provides primary medical services to approximately 13,750 patients who live in the surrounding area. Overall the practice is rated as good.

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

• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns and report and follow through incidents and near misses. Opportunities for learning from incidents were shared with staff during meetings and action taken to prevent similar recurrences but these were not recorded. Staff had the knowledge and skills to enable them to take appropriate action if they had concerns about patients’ safety.

• Practice staff utilised methods to improve patient outcomes by working with other local providers to share best practice. Clinical staff used the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines when assessing patients and for their care needs.

• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment. Information was provided to help patients understand the services available to them. Patients we spoke with told us they received good standards of care.

• Practice staff worked closely with other organisations and external professionals in planning how services were provided to ensure that they meet people’s needs. People with complex needs had care plans and risk assessments in place that were regularly reviewed.

• Practice staff relied on the NHS patient surveys to identify where improvements could be made. They did not have a Patient Participation Group (PPG) but were encouraging patients to join. (PPGs work with practice staff in an effective way that may lead to improved services).

• Senior staff had a clear vision which had quality, safety and patient care as its priority. Plans for the future were in place to further extend the hours when patients could access the service at weekends. There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. It was evident that there was a strongly motivated staff team.

We saw an area of outstanding practice:

• The dedicated carer’s notice board provided information about support groups, guidance on what constitutes a carer and a request to inform staff if they were a carer. Last year practice staff in conjunction with the Carers Trust established the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Carers Surgery. The meetings were held at the practice. These were regular coffee meetings offering support to patients/carers. They included advice, quizzes and networking opportunities. In January 2015 the practice was awarded a Carers Surgery of the Month certificate. The practice manager told us they were organising the 2016 meetings and planned to increase the advertising to promote attendances. They said that attendances at the meetings had resulted in networking between carers. We were told that so far, the Carers Surgery had facilitated networking between carers as well as providing guidance and support for them.

However, there were areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.

In addition the provider should:

• Consider ways to engage with patients in order to develop a Patient Participation Group (PPG).
• Produce minutes of practice meetings to confirm that the outcomes and actions from significant events and complaints are shared with all relevant staff and lessons learnt are monitored.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 21 January 2016

The practice is rated good for the care of people with long-term conditions. These patients had regular health reviews with either the GP and/or a nurse to check their health and medication. Longer appointments were available and patients received comprehensive reviews. Where necessary these patients had a personalised care plan in place and these were regularly monitored to check that their health and care needs were being met. Clinical staff worked with relevant health and care professionals to deliver a multidisciplinary package of care.

Updated 21 January 2016

The practice is rated good for the care of families, children and young people. There were systems in place to identify and follow up children living in disadvantaged circumstances and who were at risk. A health visitor was invited to the regular multidisciplinary meetings to discuss any safeguarding issues as well as those children who had long term conditions. There were extended opening hours and patients could hold a telephone conversation with a GP to receive advice. All children were given same day appointments and there was emphasis on children receiving their required vaccinations.

Updated 21 January 2016

The practice is rated good for the care of older people. The practice offered personalised care to meet the needs of the older people in its population and offered home visits to those who were unable to access the practice. Rapid access appointments were provided for those with enhanced or complex needs. The practice had regular contact with district nurses and other professionals in monthly meetings to discuss any concerns or changes that were needed to patient care. Data informed us that all older patients had received annual health checks and where necessary, care, treatment and support arrangements were implemented.

Updated 21 January 2016

The practice is rated good for the care of working-age people (including those recently retired and students). The needs of this population group had been identified and the practice had adjusted the services it offered to ensure these were accessible. Online appointments and requests for repeat prescriptions were available. There was a full range of health promotion and screening that reflected the needs of this age group. Extended hours were available between 6.30pm and 8pm every Thursday and at the branch practice on Mondays. Both sites provided telephone consultations from 6.30pm until 8pm every Tuesday. Telephone consultations were also available during normal opening hours.

Updated 21 January 2016

The practice is rated good for the care of people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia). The practice held a register for patients who experienced poor mental health and dementia. Staff were trained to recognise mental health presentations and carry out comprehensive assessments. Practice staff regularly worked with multidisciplinary teams in the case management of patients who experienced poor mental health. Patients who had dementia were included in these meetings. Clinical staff carried out care planning for patients with dementia and those experiencing mental health illness. Referral mechanisms were in place for when staff identified deterioration in patient’s mental health.

Updated 21 January 2016

The practice is rated good for the care of people whose circumstances may 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 all patients with a learning disability. Staff had been trained to recognise signs of abuse in vulnerable adults and children. Staff were aware of their responsibilities regarding the actions they should take if they had concerns and how to contact relevant agencies who were responsible for carrying out investigations.

The dedicated carer’s notice board provided information about support groups, guidance on what constitutes a carer and a request to inform staff if they were a carer. The practice staff had established the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Carers Surgery.