Sundon Medical Centre

Updated 16 February 2017

Sundon Medical Centre provides a range of primary medical services to the residents of Sundon Park, Luton and Harlington and the surrounding villages. The practice provides services from its current location of Sundon Medical Centre, 142-144 Sundon Park Road, Luton, Bedfordshire, LU3 3AH and its branch surgery location of Harlington Surgery, Westoning Road, Harlington, Bedfordshire, LU5 6PB. The branch surgery has a dispensary and dispenses prescribed medicine for the registered patients who live within 1.5 miles of the surgery.

The practice population is predominantly white British with a higher than average 45 to 59 year age range. National data indicates the area is one of mid deprivation. The practice has approximately 7,300 patients with services provided under a General Medical Services (GMS) contract, a nationally agreed contract with NHS England and GP Practices.

The practice is led by four GP partners, three male and one female. The nursing team consists of two practice nurses and a health care assistant, all female. There are a team of reception, administrative staff and a dispenser all led by a practice manager. Sundon Medical Centre is a training practice and at the time of the inspection had two GP registrars, qualified doctors training to become GPs.

Sundon Medical Centre is open from 8am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday and offers extended opening hours two evenings a week until 8pm on Tuesdays and either Wednesday or Thursday. Harlington Surgery is open from 8.45am to 1pm Monday to Friday.

When the practice is closed, out of hours services are provided by Care UK and can be accessed via the NHS 111 service.

Updated 16 February 2017

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Sundon Medical Centre on 29 June 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.

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

• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• The practice had a clear vision to deliver high quality care, promote good outcomes for patients and to be caring, show compassion and understanding.
• Patients said they were satisfied with the care they received and thought staff were respectful and caring. They commented they had sufficient time in their consultations and said they felt listened to by the GPs.
• Data from the national GP patient survey showed patients rated the practice higher than others for several aspects of care.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
• At both surgeries there were facilities suitable for people with disabilities and patients with young children that included a ramp at the entrance, access enabled toilets and baby changing facilities.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The practice sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.
• Patients with dementia were signposted to a project, run by a local church and supported by the practice, called the Singing Café. This was for patients of any denomination to attend to either sit and listen or join in and sing and dance with the aim of improving physical and mental wellbeing.

The area where the provider should make improvement are:

• Continue to identify and support carers.

• Continue to further develop the patient participation group.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 16 February 2017

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.

• The practice had lead GP partners for specific disease areas.

• Performance for diabetes related indicators was similar to the local and national averages. For example, the percentage of patients on the diabetes register, with a record of a foot examination and risk classification within the preceding 12 months was 98%, with 8% exception reporting, compared to the CCG average of 92%, with 7% exception reporting and the national average of 89%, with 8% exception reporting.

• Longer appointments and home visits were available when needed.

• All these patients had a named GP and a structured annual review to check their health and medicines needs were being met. For those patients with the most complex needs, the named GP worked with relevant health and care professionals to deliver a multidisciplinary package of care.

Updated 16 February 2017

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.

• The practice’s uptake for the cervical screening programme was 76%, which was comparable to the CCG average of 80% and the national average of 81%.

• Chlamydia screening was offered opportunistically to patients aged 15 to 24 years of age and the practice participated in the c-card scheme that offered free barrier methods of contraception to this age group.

• Appointments were available outside of school hours and the premises were suitable for children and babies.

• We saw positive examples of joint working with midwives and health visitors.

• Chlamydia screening was offered opportunistically to patients aged 15 to 24 years of age.

Updated 16 February 2017

The practice is rated as good for the care of older people.

• The practice offered proactive, personalised care to meet the needs of the older people in its population.

• The practice was responsive to the needs of older people, and offered home visits and urgent appointments for those with enhanced needs.

• Patients at risk of hospital admission were identified and their care reviewed with the multi-disciplinary team to put in place proactive care to prevent admission.

• Home visits for blood tests for warfarin monitoring were available for the housebound.

Updated 16 February 2017

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.

• Extended opening hours were offered two evenings a week.

• The practice was proactive in offering online services as well as a full range of health promotion and screening that reflects the needs for this age group. For example,

  • 69% of females, aged 50-70 years, were screened for breast cancer in last 36 months compared to the CCG average of 69% and the national average of 72%.

  • 58% of patients, aged 60-69 years, were screened for bowel cancer in last 30 months compared to the CCG average of 50% and the national average of 58%.

Updated 16 February 2017

The practice is rated as good for the care of people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia).

• 78% of patients diagnosed with dementia who had their care reviewed in a face to face meeting in the last 12 months, which is comparable to the local and national averages.

• The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of patients experiencing poor mental health, including those with dementia.

• The practice carried out advance care planning for patients with dementia.

• The practice had told patients experiencing poor mental health about how to access support groups and voluntary organisations.

• Patients with dementia were signposted to a project, run by a local church and supported by the practice, called the Singing Café. This was for patients of any denomination to attend to either sit and listen or join in and sing and dance with the aim of improving physical and mental wellbeing.

• The practice had a system in place to follow up patients who had attended A&E where they may have been experiencing poor mental health.

• Staff had a good understanding of how to support patients with mental health needs and dementia.

Updated 16 February 2017

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.

• The practice offered longer appointments for patients with a learning disability. All of these patients were offered an annual health check. The practice had 17 patients on the register and 15 of these had received a check in the previous 12 months.

• The practice regularly worked with other health care professionals in the case management of vulnerable patients.

• The practice informed vulnerable patients about how to access 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.

• The practice’s computer system alerted GPs if a patient was also a carer. The practice had identified 83 patients as carers this equated to approximately 1% of the practice list.