Elsenham Surgery

Updated 4 August 2016

Elsenham Surgery is situated in Elsenham, Essex. It provides GP services to approximately 5450 patients living in Elsenham, Stansted Mountfichet, Bishops Stortford and surrounding villages.

Elsenham Surgery is one of 38 practices commissioned by the West Essex Clinical Commissioning Group. The practice holds a General Medical Services contract (GMS) with the NHS. This contract outlines the core responsibilities of the practice in meeting the needs of its patients through the services it provides.

The practice population has a slightly higher number of children aged 0 to 18 years than the England average, as well as a marginally increased number of patients aged 40 to 49 years. Economic deprivation levels affecting children and older people are much lower than England average, as are unemployment levels. The life expectancies of men and women are higher than national averages. There are more patients on the practice’s list that have long standing health conditions and there are more patients with a caring responsibility than the England average. A majority of this data relates to the year 2013/2014.

The practice is governed by a partnership of three partners, two of which are male GPs and one a female GP. The partners are supported by a female salaried GP, two practice nurses and a health care assistant. Administrative support consists of a part-time practice manager, a part-time deputy practice manager as well as a number of reception and administrative staff.

Elsenham surgery is a dispensing practice. The dispensary is open from 8:30am to 6:30pm Mondays to Fridays and dispenses medicines to patients who live more than one mile from a chemist. There are four dispensers who work at the dispensary.

Elsenham Surgery is a training practice. There are two Registrars at the practice. A Registrar is a qualified doctor who is training to become a GP through a period of working and training in a practice.

The practice is open between 8:30am and 6:30pm every weekday. Morning appointments are from 9am to 12:30pm Monday to Thursday, with appointments being offered from 8:30am on a Friday. Afternoon surgery times are from 3pm until 5:50pm. On a Saturday, GP care is provided by a hub of GP practices across the locality either in Great Dunmow or Saffron Walden. This is for pre-bookable appointments with a GP or nurse. It is open from 8am until 2pm.

The practice has opted out of providing 'out of hours’ services which is now provided by Partnership of East London Co-operatives (PELC), another healthcare provider.

Patients can also contact the NHS 111 service to obtain medical advice if necessary.

Updated 4 August 2016

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

On 12th November 2015, we carried out a comprehensive inspection at Elsenham Surgery. Overall the practice was rated as good, with requires improvement for safe services. This was because we found that the practice did not have a controlled medicines register for the GP's bag, the cabinets where controlled medicines were stored were not compliant with the storage requirements for controlled medicines and we were not satisfied that medicines in the dispensary were only accessible to authorised staff.

In relation to this, the practice was issued with a requirement notice for improvement. We also made advisory comments that entries in the controlled medicines record should be made in ink rather than pencil.

After this inspection the practice sent us an action plan that identified how they would achieve the improvements and the date when they would be completed. We then carried out an announced focused inspection at Elsenham Surgery on 12th July 2016 to check that the necessary improvements had been made.

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

• There was a controlled medicines register in the GP's bag;
• The cabinet where controlled medicines were stored was compliant with storage requirements for controlled medicines;
• Steps had been taken to improve security and access so that medicines were only available to authorised staff;
• Entries in the controlled medicines register were made in ink rather than pencil.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 28 January 2016

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. All these patients had a named GP and a structured annual review to check that their health and medication needs were being met. The practice identified patients at risk of developing diabetes and offered glucose tolerance screening to prevent the onset of the disease. 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 and offered longer appointments.

Updated 28 January 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of families, children and young people. Children at risk of abuse were discussed at multi-disciplinary meetings to enable appropriate care planning. Immunisation rates were high for all standard childhood immunisations. Patients we spoke with told us that children received good care at the practice, and that they as parents were consulted and involved in their treatment. Urgent appointments were available in the event of childhood accident or illness, as well as appointments outside of school hours. A drop-in baby clinic was provided twice a month which was attended by the health visitor.

Updated 28 January 2016

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 offered proactive, personalised care to meet the needs of this population group. For example, older patients identified on the practice’s frailty register had a care plan in place to meet their needs.  A social worker from the Older People team attended multidisciplinary team meetings so that the needs of older people were identified and co-ordinated.  It was responsive to the needs of this population group, and offered home visits and rapid access appointments.

Updated 28 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 had identified that it did not have a large student population, but continued to offer a as a full range of health promotion and screening services that reflected the needs for this age group. Patients who had recently had a change of circumstances, such as retirement were invited to make an appointment with a GP to discuss their ongoing health needs.

Updated 28 January 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia). Everybody diagnosed with dementia had had their care reviewed in a face to face meeting in the last 12 months. The practice identified patients at risk of developing dementia and carried out opportunistic tests for this so that appropriate care planning could take place. The practice held a dementia awareness coffee morning once a month, which the practice manager attended, to support patients and their families. Data showed that the practice was performing better than the national average for ensuring that patients with schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder and other psychoses had a comprehensive care plan in place.

Updated 28 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 who had a learning disability and provided annual health checks, care plans and longer appointments. The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of vulnerable people. It 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, safeguarding concerns and how to contact relevant agencies.