Background to this inspection
Updated
17 January 2019
This report relates to the regulatory activities being carried out at Mount Pleasant Health Centre which is situated in Exeter. The practice is comprised of one site. The address of the practice is Mount Pleasant Road, Exeter, Devon, EX4 7BW. We visited this practice during our inspection. The practice has a website which is located at www.mountpleasanthealthcentre.co.uk.
The deprivation decile rating for this area is eight (with one being the most deprived and 10 being the least deprived). The practice provides a primary medical service to approximately 16,380 patients of a diverse age group. The 2011 census data showed that the majority of the local population identified themselves as being White British.
There is a team of six GP full partners, two female and four male. The six partners are supported by an additional five salaried partners, four salaried GPs and six GP registrars. The whole-time equivalent is 10. The GP team were supported by a practice manager, a deputy practice manager, a finance manager, practice administrator, a reception manager, 10 practice nurses, an emergency care practitioner, a prescribing advisor, three health care assistants, and additional administration staff.
Patients using the practice also have access to physiotherapists, counsellors, district nurses, and midwives who are co-located on the same site as the practice. Other health care professionals visited the practice on a regular basis.
The practice is open from 8.30am to 6pm Monday to Friday. Appointments are offered between those times. Extended hours are offered on Monday and Tuesdays from 7.15am until 8am, Monday to Thursday from 6.30pm to 8pm and Sundays from 9am until 4pm. Outside of these times patients are directed to contact the out of hour’s service and the NHS 111 number. This is in line with local contract arrangements.
The practice offers a range of appointment types including face to face same day appointments, telephone consultations and advance appointments (four weeks in advance) as well as online services such as repeat prescriptions.
The practice is registered for the treatment of disease, disorder or injury, diagnostic or screening procedures, maternity and midwifery, and family planning services.
Updated
17 January 2019
This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous rating August 2015 – Good)
The key questions at this inspection are rated as:
Are services safe? – Good
Are services effective? – Good
Are services caring? – Good
Are services responsive? – Good
Are services well-led? - Good
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Mount Pleasant Health Centre as part of our inspection programme.
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 routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care they provided. They ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
- Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
- Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
- There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.
- Improvements since our previous inspection included a patient’s garden allotment, physiotherapy, an emergency care practitioner, health navigation, E-Consult and a swifter triage system.
- The practice offered extended hours which included opening on a Sunday from 9am until 4pm.
- The practice had been successful with a bid to be part of a pilot for a first contact practitioner and now had a physiotherapist based at the practice. Healthcare Navigators (receptionists) booked patients directly to this service, which reduced the workload for GPs and increased their time with other patients.
- We saw examples of how the practice used technology and equipment to improve treatment and to support patients’ independence. For example, the introduction of E-Consult allowed patients to communicate with the practice online.
- The practice had been shortlisted by the General Practice Awards for the Patient Choice Surgery of the Year 2018 as a result of patient feedback about the care provided by the practice. The practice was in the top three practices nationally and staff from the practice were due to attend the awards ceremony at the end of November 2018.
The areas where the provider should make improvements are:
- The practice should continue to review its childhood immunisation programme in order to bring its achievement into line with World Health Organisation (WHO) targets
Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice
Please refer to the detailed report and the evidence tables for further information.