Bowland Medical Practice

Updated 27 October 2017

Bowland Medical Practice serves a residential area located in the Benchill area of South Manchester. At the time of this inspection the practice had approximately 7,600 patients registered.

The practice population experiences much higher levels of income deprivation than the practice average across England. There is a lower proportion of patients above 65 years of age (13.4%) than the practice average across England (17.2%). The practice has a higher proportion of patients under 18 years of age (23.6%) than the practice average across England (20.7%). The proportion of the practice’s patients with a long term condition is 58.9%, compared to the local average of 50.9% and national average of 53.2%

Services are provided by five partner GPs. The GPs are supported in providing clinical services by four practice nurses. The clinical staff are supported by the practice manager, finance manager and the other nine members of the practice team.

Bowland Medical Practice is accredited by the North Western Deanery of Postgraduate Medical Education as a GP Training Practice, providing post graduate training and experience for qualified doctors who are training to become GPs.

The opening times of the practice are Monday to Friday from 8.15am to 6.00pm with extended opening hours Tuesday 6.30pm to 7.30pm. The surgery is closed on Tuesdays and Fridays between 12 noon and 2.00pm for training.

The practice has a contract with NHS England to provide General Medical Services (GMS) to the patients registered with the practice, and is part of the NHS Manchester Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

The practice website provides patients with details of how to access medical advice when the practice is closed. Patients are also provided with these details via a recorded message when they telephone the practice outside the usual opening times. The out of hours service is provided locally by a registered out of hours service (Go To Doc).

Updated 27 October 2017

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Bowland Medical Practice on 16 July 2015. The overall rating for the practice was good, with a requires improvement rating for the key question of safe and we issued requirement notices for breaches of Regulation 12 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 (Safe care and treatment) and Regulation 19 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 (Fit and proper persons employed). The full comprehensive report on the July 2015 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Bowland Medical Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

This inspection was a desk-based review carried out on 5 October 2017 to confirm that the practice had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breaches identified in the requirement notices.

Overall the practice is now rated as good, with the previous rating of requires improvement for the key question of safe updated to a rating of good.

Our key findings were as follows:

• The practice was able to demonstrate that a risk assessment relating to legionella had been completed .

• All non-clinical staff who carried out chaperone duties had DBS checks in place, and the practice’s recruitment policy had been updated to reflect this was part of its recruitment procedure (DBS checks identify whether a person has a criminal record or is on an official list of people barred from working in roles where they may have contact with children or adults who may be vulnerable).

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 20 August 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. Those at risk of hospital admission had a named GP and all had a structured annual review to check that their health and medication needs were being met. For those people with the most complex needs, the clinical team worked with relevant health and care professionals to deliver a multidisciplinary package of care. Where patients did not attend appointments there was a system in place to establish the reasons why and offer another flexible appointment to encourage patients to attend and discuss any concerns they may have.

Updated 20 August 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. 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, mental health professionals and palliative care nurses.

Updated 20 August 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 offered proactive, personalised care to meet the needs of the older people in its population and had a range of enhanced services, for example in dementia and end of life care. It was responsive to the needs of older people, and offered home visits and rapid access appointments for those with enhanced needs.

Updated 20 August 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 to ensure these were accessible, flexible and offered continuity of care. The practice was proactive in offering a full range of health promotion and screening that reflects the needs for this age group.

Updated 20 August 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia). Patients experiencing poor mental health were provided with an annual physical health check. 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. The practice had told patients experiencing poor mental health about how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations including MIND and SANE. 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.

Updated 20 August 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 those with a learning disability. It had carried out annual health checks for people with a learning disability. It offered this population group longer appointments. Where patients did not attend appointments there was a system in place to establish the reasons why and offer another flexible appointment to encourage patients to attend and discuss any concerns they may have. The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of vulnerable people. It had told vulnerable patients 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.