Wombwell Medical Centre Practice

Updated 5 January 2018

Wombwell Medical Centre Practice is located at:

• George Street, Wombwell, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S73 0DD.

The practice provides services for 9,664 patients under the terms of the NHS General Medical Services contract. Further information can be found on the practice website: http://www.wombwellmedicalcentre.nhs.uk/ .

The practice catchment area is classed as within the group of the fourth most deprived areas in England. The age profile of the practice population is broadly similar to other GP practices in the Barnsley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

There are three GP partners, two male and a female. They are supported by three advanced nurse practitioners, four practice nurses, one healthcare assistant, a apprentice healthcare assistant, a phlebotomist. A practice manager  and a team of administration staff. The practice is also supported by a pharmacist, who is employed by the local CCG to support GP practices. ( The a A Advanced nurse N Ppractitioner (ANP) role is generally understood to mean a nurse who has undertaken extra training in clinical assessment, including history-taking and physical examination, so they can safely manage patients presenting with undifferentiated and undiagnosed conditions.)

Opening hours are Monday 8am to 8pm, Wednesday 7am to 6pm and Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 8am to 6pm closed Saturday and Sunday.

Out of hours care can be accessed via the surgery telephone number  or by calling the NHS 111 service. and Iheart Barnsley.

Updated 5 January 2018

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection in January 2016 rated the service as Good overall).

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? - Good

As part of our inspection process, we also look at the quality of care for specific population groups. The population groups are rated as:

Older People – Good

People with long-term conditions – Good

Families, children and young people – Good

Working age people (including those recently retired and students – Good

People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable – Good

People experiencing poor mental health (including people living with dementia) - Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Wombwell Medical Centre on 11 December 2017 under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. The inspection was planned to check whether the provider continues to meet the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

At this inspection we found:

• The practice had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes.
• The practice had clearly defined and embedded systems, processes and practices to minimise risks to patient safety.
• The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• Clinical audits demonstrated quality improvement.
• There was evidence of appraisals and personal development plans for all staff.
• Staff worked with other health care professionals to understand and meet the range and complexity of patients’ needs.
• 79 out of 83 patient Care Quality Commission comment cards we received were positive about the service experienced. This is in line with the results of the NHS Friends and Family Test and other feedback received by the practice.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Staff worked together and with other health and social care professionals to deliver effective care and treatment.
• The practice took complaints and concerns seriously and responded to them appropriately to improve the quality of care.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.

We saw two areas of outstanding practice:

• The practice organised a ‘tea party’ in collaboration with Barnsley Independent Alzheimer’s and Dementia Support, South Yorkshire Dementia Alliance, and South Yorkshire Housing Dementia support for all patients and carers. This event covered fire safety and all patients were offered a home visit for assessments and improvements. All families and carers were supported to complete a Herbert protocol for all patients. (The Herbert Protocol is a national scheme being introduced by the Met in partnership with other agencies which encourages carers to compile useful information which could be used in the event of a vulnerable person going missing.)
• The practice had developed a protocol to ensure secondary care and community services were informed of patient deaths. This was to prevent further mail for the patient being sent out.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• The provider should review the processes to ensure the competencies of the advanced nurse practitioners clinical decision making skills and non-medical prescribing.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 14 January 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of people with long term conditions. Nursing staff had lead roles in long term condition management. Patients who had multiple conditions received a complete and thorough review in one longer appointment. This negated the need for several appointments. Longer appointments and home visits were available when needed. All these patients had a named GP and a structured annual review to check that their health and medication needs were being met. For those people with the most complex needs, the named GP worked with relevant health and care professionals to deliver a multidisciplinary package of care.

Updated 14 January 2016

The practice is rated as 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, for example, children and young people who had a high number of accident and emergency attendances. Immunisation rates were relatively high for all standard childhood immunisations. Patients told us that children and young people were treated in an age appropriate way and were recognised as individuals, and we saw evidence to confirm this. Appointments were available outside of school hours and the premises were suitable for children and babies. We saw good examples of joint working with midwives, health visitors and school nurses.

Updated 14 January 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of older people. Nationally reported data showed that outcomes for patients were comparable to other practices in the area for conditions commonly found in older people. The practice offered proactive, personalised care to meet the needs of the older people in its population and had a range of enhanced services, for example, for those living with dementia. It was responsive to the needs of older people, and offered home visits and rapid access appointments for those with enhanced needs.

Updated 14 January 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of working age people (including those recently retired and students). The needs of the working age population, those recently retired and students had been identified and the practice had adjusted the services it offered to ensure these were accessible, flexible and offered continuity of care. The practice was proactive in offering online services as well as a full range of health promotion and screening that reflected the needs for this age group.

Updated 14 January 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of people experiencing poor mental health (including those living with dementia). During our last visit in December 2014, only 8% of people experiencing poor mental health had a care plan in place. This had improved to 85% of care plans in place on this visit. The practice regularly worked with multidisciplinary teams in the case management of people experiencing poor mental health, including those living with dementia. Staff carried out advanced care planning for patients living with dementia.

The practice had told patients experiencing poor mental health about how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations. It had a system in place to follow up patients who had attended accident and emergency where they may have been experiencing poor mental health. Staff had received training on how to care for people with mental health needs and dementia

Updated 14 January 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, travellers and those with a learning disability.

The practice regularly worked with multidisciplinary teams in the case management of those whose circumstances may make them vulnerable. Patients were given information how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations. Staff knew how to recognise signs of abuse in adults and children. Staff were aware of their responsibilities regarding information sharing, documentation of safeguarding concerns and how to contact relevant agencies in normal working hours and out of hours.