The Summerhill Surgery

Updated 16 December 2016

The Summerhill Centre is a long established practice located in the Kingswinford area of Dudley. There are approximately 6045 patients of various ages registered and cared for at the practice. Services to patients are provided under a General Medical Services (GMS) contract with NHS England. The practice has expanded its contracted obligations to provide enhanced services to patients. An enhanced service is above the contractual requirement of the practice and is commissioned to improve the range of services available to patients.

The practice is led by a lead GP partner and a practice manager partner. The clinical team includes three GPs, two advanced nurse prescribers, a healthcare assistant, a physician’s assistant and a pharmacist. The practice is supported by an office manager, a team of six receptionists and an apprentice who cover reception, secretarial and administration duties.

The practice is open between 7:30am and 7pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, with appointments from 8am to 6:30pm. On Thursdays and Fridays the practice is open between 8am and 6:30pm, with appointments from 8:30am to 6pm. Pre-bookable appointments can be booked up to six weeks in advance, urgent appointments and telephone consultations are also available for people that needed them. Patients requiring a GP outside of the practices opening hours are advised to contact the GP out of hour’s service provided by Malling Health.

Updated 16 December 2016

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Summerhill Surgery on 30 September 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

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

• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance.

• The practice held an intermediate care contract and provided GP services to approximately 50 nursing homes across the area. The practice had a dedicated nursing home team who worked within the nursing home division of the practice.

• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed, with the exception of risk assessments in the absence of disclosure and barring checks (DBS checks) for staff that chaperoned.

• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses. Information about safety was recorded, monitored, reviewed and addressed.
• Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and any further training needs had been identified and planned.

• There was evidence of appraisals and personal development plans for staff, with the exception of one member of the nursing team.

• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.

• The practice had good facilities and was equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.

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

Importantly the provider must:

• Ensure risk assessments are in place to assess the risk of not having disclosure and barring checks (DBS) for staff who chaperone.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are :

• Ensure staff performance and training needs are identified and documented for all members of the nursing team through a programme of annual appraisals.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 3 December 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of people with long-term conditions. Nursing staff had lead roles in chronic disease management and patients at risk of hospital admission were identified as a priority. Longer appointments and home visits were available when needed. The advanced nurse practitioners also offered home visits for chronic disease management. All these patients had a structured annual review to check that their health and medication needs were being met. Performance for overall diabetes related indicators was 89% compared to the CCG average of 86% and national average of 90%. The practice shared a report which highlighted that 88% of their patients with diabetes had received an annual review.

For those people with the most complex needs, a named GP worked with relevant health and care professionals to deliver a multidisciplinary package of care. 

Updated 3 December 2015

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 A&E attendances. Immunisation rates were relatively high for all standard childhood immunisations. Childhood immunisation rates for vaccinations given to under two year olds ranged from 95% to 100% compared to the national averages which ranged from 40% to 100%. Immunisation rates for five year olds ranged from 87% to 100% compared to the national averages which ranged from 94% to 98%. 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. When providing care and treatment for children and young people, assessments of capacity to consent were also carried out in line with relevant guidance. Appointments were available outside of school hours and the premises were suitable for children and babies.

Updated 3 December 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of older people. Nationally reported data showed that outcomes for patients were good for conditions commonly found in older people. The practice shared a report which highlighted that 96% of their patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) had received an annual review.The practice offered proactive, personalised care to meet the needs of the older people in its population and had a range of enhanced services. The practice held an intermediate care contract and provided a dedicated service to approximately 50 nursing homes across the area which involved regular structured ward rounds and twice weekly visits to each home.

The practice regularly engaged with this patient group to improve services for them. Examples included monthly monitoring systems to check all fall related attendance at A&E. The practice followed up on monthly checks by liaising with the care home teams and ensuring specific falls prevention care plans were in place. It was responsive to the needs of older people, and offered home visits and rapid access appointments for those with enhanced needs.

Updated 3 December 2015

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 and provided extended hours 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 comprehensive screening programme that reflects the needs for this age group. The practice’s uptake for the cervical screening programme was 92%, compared to the national average of 81%.

Updated 3 December 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia). The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of people experiencing poor mental health, including those with dementia. It carried out advance care planning for patients with dementia. Patients’ consent to care and treatment was always sought in line with legislation and guidance. The practice provided GP services to a number of nursing homes, as a result staff were very knowledgeable and understood the relevant consent and decision-making requirements of legislation and guidance, including the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

Staff carried out annual health check, offered longer appointments and offered appointments at quieter times for people experiencing poor mental health. 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 (A&E) 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 3 December 2015

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. It had carried out annual health checks, offered longer appointments and offered appointments at quieter times for people with a learning disability.

The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of vulnerable people. It had told vulnerable patients about how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations. Staff knew how to recognise signs of abuse in vulnerable 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.