Balderton Primary Care Centre

Updated 16 March 2022

Balderton Primary Care Centre is located in Nottingham at:

Lowfield Lane

Balderton

Newark

Nottinghamshire

NG24 3HJ

The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the Regulated Activities; diagnostic and screening procedures, maternity and midwifery services and treatment of disease, disorder or injury and surgical procedures. These are delivered from one site.

The practice is situated within the Nottingham city Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and delivers Alternative Provider Medical Services (APMS) to a patient population of approximately 6,283. This is part of a contract held with NHS England.

The practice is part of a wider network of GP practices called the Newark primary care network (PCN).

Information published by Public Health England shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the eight lowest decile (8 of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice population is relative to others.

Information accessed through Public Health England indicates insufficient data available to provide an accurate summary regarding the ethnic make up of the practice area.

The age distribution of the practice population closely mirrors the local and national averages. There are more male patients registered at the practice compared to females.

There is a team of six GPs (one salaried and five regular locums) who provide cover at the practice. The practice has a practice nurse who provide nurse led clinics for long-term conditions with a second nurse due to commence employment following our inspection. There is also a long-term locum health care assistant and an advanced nurse practitioner/paramedic who support the practice. The GPs are supported at the practice by a team of six reception/administration staff.

There is an assistant practice manager to provide managerial oversight. The practice team is supported by a higher regional team which comprises of a CQC registered manager, regional manager, regional nurse manager and a regional medical director. The practice is also supported by a pharmacist and a first contact physiotherapist who are employed through to local Primary Care Network. The practice provided winter access during 2021/2022 which is a government scheme to improve access for patients over the winter period. The practice have had additional GPs and advanced nurse practitioners providing extra clinics to see patients.

Due to the enhanced infection prevention and control measures put in place since the pandemic and in line with the national guidance, most GP appointments were telephone consultations. If the GP needs to see a patient face-to-face then the patient is offered an appointment at the surgery.

Out of hours services are provided by 111.

Updated 16 March 2022

We carried out an announced inspection at Balderton Primary Care Centre on Monday 28 February 2022. Overall, the practice is rated as good.

Set out the ratings for each key question

Safe - Good

Effective - Good

Caring - Good

Responsive - Good

Well-led - Good

Following our previous focused inspection on 25, 26 and 29 March 2021 the practice was rated as inspected but not rated.

The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Balderton Primary Care Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we carried out this inspection

This inspection was a comprehensive inspection because the practice had been inspected but not rated since its registration with the CQC on 16 December 2020 and to follow up from breaches of regulations identified in an unannounced focused inspection in March 2021.

How we carried out the inspection

Throughout the pandemic CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, taking into account the circumstances arising as a result of the pandemic, and in order to reduce risk, we have conducted our inspections differently.

This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site. This was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements.

This included:

• Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing
• Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system and discussing findings with the provider
• Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider
• Requesting evidence from the provider
• A short site visit

Our findings

We based our judgement of the quality of care at this service on a combination of:

• what we found when we inspected
• information from our ongoing monitoring of data about services and
• information from the provider, patients, the public and other organisations.

We have rated this practice as Good overall

We found that:

• The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
• Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
• Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
• The practice adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
• The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.
• The practice had worked hard to address the backlogs found at the previous inspection in March 2021.
• The practice had recruited more staff and were in the process of actively recruiting at the time of inspection.
• Records showed that the practice had taken action to contact patients who had not received monitoring of their condition in 18 months.

Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:

• Continue to recruit relevant staff to support access to care and treatment in a timely way.
• Establish a patient participation group to enhance engagement with patients.
• Continue to take action to ensure effective monitoring of patients diagnosed with long term conditions.

Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care