Background to this inspection
Updated
2 November 2020
Norvic Family Practice is located in Smethwick, a town in Sandwell in the West Midlands. It is four miles west of Birmingham city centre and borders West Bromwich to the north and Oldbury to the west. There is access to the practice by public transport from surrounding areas.There are parking facilities on site.
The practice holds a General Medical Services (GMS) contract with NHS England. The GMS contract allows the practice to deliver primary care services to the local communities. The practice currently has an approximate list size of 9300 patients. The practice provides GP services commissioned by NHS Sandwell and West Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). A CCG is an organisation that brings together local GPs and experienced health professionals to take on commissioning responsibilities for local health services.
The practice is situated in an area with high levels of deprivation with a score of level two. Level one represents the most deprived areas and level 10, the least deprived. The age distribution of the practice population broadly follows that of the national average.
Norvic Family Practice (based in Victoria Health Centre) is the main site of the practice and is based at 5 Suffrage Street, Smethwick, West Midlands, B66 3PZ and operates from a purpose -built premise. Patient services are available on the ground floor level of the building. The premises are also shared with another GP practice and other healthcare professionals including district nurses, health visiting teams, physiotherapy and chiropody specialists. The practice has a branch site located at 110 Norman Road, Smethwick, West Midlands B67 5PU which is owned by the GP partners and is a converted residential property. The distance between the main site and branch is under two miles.
Both sites are open from 8am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday, with extended access provision available at the main site on Monday and Tuesday between 6pm to 8pm. Norvic Family Practice is closed at 5pm on a Thursday however, patients can access services at the branch site. The branch practice Norman Road is closed at 5pm on Wednesday and patients can access services at the main site.
Appointments are available at Norvic Family Practice Monday and Tuesday between 9am and 8pm. Wednesday and Friday between 9am and 6.30pm and Thursday between 9am and 5pm.
Appointments at the branch practice Norman Road are available Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday between 9am and 6.30pm and Wednesday between 9am and 5pm.
The practice is currently managed by three GP partners (two male, one female). Following a period of mutual assessment an application was in progress to appoint a new GP partner. There were two regular GP locums, two practice nurses and three health care assistants (two with dual receptionist role). The practice also employs a Physician’s Associate who also works across the practices within the Primary Care network (PCN). There is also a pharmacist and social prescriber who work across the PCN. The practice recently appointed a Finance and Business manager who works alongside the practice manager and are supported by a team of administrative and clerical staff.
When the practice is closed services are provided by an out of hours provider who are reached by following the instructions on the practice’s answerphone message.
Updated
2 November 2020
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Norvic Family Practice on 16 January 2018. The overall rating for the service was Inadequate. Breaches of legal requirements were found and after the inspection we issued warning notices for Regulation 12: Safe care and treatment and Regulation 17: Good governance, HSCA (RA) Regulations 2014. The service was also placed into special measures.
We undertook a further inspection on 6 June 2018 to confirm that the service had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the warning notices issued. During the inspection we found the service had met the requirements of the warning notice. However, ongoing improvements were still required. We issued a requirement notice for Regulation 17: Good governance HSCA (RA) Regulations 2014.
We undertook a further comprehensive inspection on 5 September to 2018. The purpose of the inspection was to confirm if the service had made sufficient improvements and be removed from special measures. During this inspection we identified that insufficient improvements had been made such that there remained a rating of inadequate for safe and requires improvement for effective, responsive and well led. We met with the providers to discuss the on-going non-compliance with the regulations, they assured us that the necessary improvements would be made. The period of special measure was extended for a further six months. We also issued a requirement notice for Regulation 17: Good governance HSCA (RA) Regulations 2014.
This inspection was an announced comprehensive inspection carried out on 8 May 2019. The
purpose of the inspection was to confirm if the service had made sufficient improvements and be removed from special measures. We also visited the branch practice site as part of this inspection, which is known as Norman Road Surgery and located at 110 Norman Road, Smethwick, West Midlands B67 5PU.
We based our judgement of the quality of care at this service on a combination of:
- what we found when we inspected
- information from our ongoing monitoring of data about services and
- information from the provider, patients, the public and other organisations.
We have rated this practice as good overall.
We rated the practice as good for providing safe, caring, responsive and well led services because:
- The practice had adequate 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.
- Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and this aligned with the positive feedback we received from patients.
- The practice organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. The practice had responded to patient feedback to improve access, this was reflected in the overall positive feedback from patients.
- The system for handling complaints was improved to ensure all complaints were recorded and responded to in a timely manner.
- There were systems of accountability to support good governance and effective oversight. The practice had invested and committed to quality and safety with a formal development plan in place to modernise the service and ensure sustainability.
We rated the practice as requires improvement for providing effective services overall, as we rated population groups people with long-term conditions, families, children and young people and working age people (including those recently retired and students) as requires improvement because:
- Improvements were required in the care and treatment of people with diabetes and high blood pressure.
- The practice was below the World Health Organisation minimum range for the uptake of childhood immunisations. Although the practice had taken action further improvements were still required.
- The practice was promoting and encouraging the uptake of cervical and bowel cancer screening however, at the time of the inspection significant improvements had not been made.
Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider
should
:
- Update risk assessments to provide assurance of completed actions.
- Complete a formal risk assessment for the use of blind cords in patient accessible areas to ensure potential risks have been considered and minimised.
- Review the care and treatment for people with diabetes and high blood pressure to improve health outcomes and reduce potential risks.
- Continue to encourage and promote the uptake of cancer screening and childhood immunisation rates and explore ways to further increase uptake.
- Make reasonable adjustments for patients with a hearing impairment.
- Monitor and review satisfaction in relation to patients overall experience of the service and explore ways to improve engagement to ensure patients experience are positive.
I am taking this service out of special measures. This recognises the significant improvements made to the quality of care provided by this service.
Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.
Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP
Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care