Selly Park Surgery

Updated 15 November 2016

Selly Park Surgery is located in Selly Park, a district in south west Birmingham in the West Midlands. The practice area includes Selly Oak, Stirchley, Moseley, and Edgbaston areas of Birmingham. It has four GP partners (two males and two females) operating from a purpose built building in Selly Park.

Selly Park Surgery provides primary medical services to patients in a residential suburban area and has a slighter lower number of patients between the ages of 5 to 18 years (approximately 10% to 18%) compared to the CCG average (approximately 13% to 25%). The practice has a slightly larger population of older patients compared with the local averages. 16% of patients registered with the practice are aged 65 years and over compared with local average of 12%; and the number of patients over the age of 75 is 2% higher than local averages.

The majority of patients registered with the practice are white British with small numbers of patients from ethnic minority groups such as Indian, Pakistani, Chinese and Asian. The practice area is one of lower than average rate of deprivation at 22% when compared with the local average of 37%, although this is in line with the national average.

The GPs are supported by a practice manager, assistant practice manager, a practice nurse, a healthcare assistant, a secretary and three receptionists. There were 4800 patients registered with the practice at the time of the inspection.

The practice has a General Medical Services (GMS) contract with NHS England. The GMS contract is the contract between general practices and NHS England for delivering primary care services to local communities.

The practice opens from 8am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday with appointments available from those times on these days. Extended hours appointments are available on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings from 7.15am to 8am for pre-bookable appointments.

The practice is closed every Wednesday afternoon from 1pm. All telephone calls from this time are taken by the out-of-hours provider. The practice is closed at weekends. The practice does not provide an out-of-hours service but has alternative arrangements in place for patients to be seen when the practice is closed. For example, if patients call the practice when it is closed, an answerphone message gives the telephone number they should ring depending on the circumstances. Information on the out-of-hours service (provided by Primecare) is available on the practice’s website and in the patient practice leaflet.

Home visits are also available for patients who are too ill to attend the practice for appointments. There is also an online service which allows patients to order repeat prescriptions and book appointments.

The practice treats patients of all ages and provides a range of medical services. This includes disease management such as asthma, diabetes and heart disease. Other appointments are available for maternity care and family planning.

Selly Park Surgery is a teaching practice for undergraduate medical students from the University of Birmingham.

Updated 15 November 2016

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Selly Park Surgery on 12 May 2016. The overall rating for this service is good.

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

• There was a system in place to raise concerns and report significant events. Staff understood their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report significant events. These were discussed regularly at meetings and were a standing agenda item. Learning was shared with practice staff regularly and with other practices in the locality.

• Information about safety alerts was reviewed and communicated to staff by the practice manager in a timely fashion. Recommendations made by the CCG pharmacist following medicines reviews were followed up by GPs.

• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed through practice meetings and collaborative discussions with the multi-disciplinary team. Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance.

• Patients we spoke with told us GPs and nurses at the practice treated them with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.

• Information about services and how to complain was available in the reception area and patients told us that they knew how to complain if they needed to.

• Urgent appointments were available on the day they were requested. Patients said that they were able to see their preferred GP within one day. Routine appointments could be booked up to two weeks in advance and were usually available the next day.

• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs. This included easy access for patients who used wheelchairs and baby changing facilities.

• There was a clear leadership structure and staff told us they felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from patients, which it acted on. Staff appeared motivated to deliver high standards of care and there was evidence of team working throughout the practice.

The areas the provider should make improvements are:

• Ensure that communication aids such as easy read and pictorial aids, are available for patients with a learning disability to enhance communication opportunities.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 15 November 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of patients with long-term conditions.

• The practice nurses 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 patients diagnosed with a long term condition had a named GP and a structured annual review to check that their health and medicine needs were being met.
• For those patients with the most complex needs, the GPs worked with relevant health and care professionals to deliver a multidisciplinary package of care.
• Structured reviews of patients care and treatment was carried out annually, which ensured their health needs were being met. Holistic appointments were offered so that the number of times patients needed to attend for appointments was reduced.

Updated 15 November 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of families, children and young patients.

• There were systems in place to identify and follow up children who were at risk of abuse. For example, children and young patients who had a high number of accident and emergency (A&E) attendances. Staff had received safeguarding training. They were aware of their responsibilities in protecting children who were at risk of harm.
• Childhood immunisation rates were overall comparable to the local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) averages.
• Patients told us that children and young patients were treated in an age-appropriate way and were recognised as individuals, and we saw evidence that confirmed this.
• Appointments were available outside of school hours and the premises were suitable and accessible for children.
• We saw good examples of joint working with midwives, health visitors, and district nurses.
• Appointments were available outside school hours. A number of online services including booking appointments and requesting repeat medicines were also available.

Updated 15 November 2016

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

• Nationally reported data showed that outcomes for patients were good for conditions commonly found in older patients.
• The practice offered proactive, personalised care to meet the needs of the older patients 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 patients, and offered home visits and rapid access appointments for those with enhanced needs. The practice also arranged blood tests for patients at local care homes to help with monitoring their conditions.
• Health checks were carried out for all patients over the age of 75 years.

Updated 15 November 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of working-age patients (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 offered weekly evening extended hours so that patients could access appointments around their working hours.
• The practice was proactive in offering online services as well as a full range of health promotion and screening services that reflected the needs of this age group.
• The practice nurses had oversight for the management of a number of clinical areas, including immunisations, cervical cytology and some long term conditions.

Updated 15 November 2016

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

• The practice held a register of patients living in vulnerable circumstances including those patients with dementia. Advanced care planning and annual health checks were carried out which took into account patients’ circumstances and support networks in addition to their physical health. Longer appointments were arranged for this and patients were seen by the GP they preferred. Patients were given information about how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations.
• The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of patients experiencing poor mental health, including those with dementia.
• The GPs and practice nurses understood the importance of considering patients ability to consent to care and treatment and dealt with this in accordance with the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
• There was 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. Staff had received training on how to care for patients’ with mental health needs and dementia.

Updated 15 November 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of patients whose circumstances may make them vulnerable.

• The practice held a register of patients living in vulnerable circumstances including those patients with a learning disability. There were no communication aids available such as easy read and pictorial, for patients with a learning disability.
• The practice offered longer appointments for patients with a learning disability, and had completed annual health checks for all 22 patients on their register. Communication aids were not however available to ensure communication opportunities were enhanced.
• The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of vulnerable patients. It had advised vulnerable patients on how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations. Alerts were placed on these patients’ records so that staff were aware they might need to be prioritised for appointments or offered longer appointments.
• Staff had received training and knew how to recognise signs of abuse in vulnerable adults and children who were considered to be at risk of harm. Staff were aware of their responsibilities regarding information sharing, documentation of safeguarding concerns.
• The practice worked in partnership with another agency to support patients with drug and alcohol related health issues. Weekly clinics were held at the practice.
• The practice told us they were in the process of reviewing carers as information about carers had not always been collected from patients. Forms were now available for reception staff to ask patients for this information. The GPs and the nurses were to review their care plans in order to ascertain whether any carers had been missed. A poster was displayed in the waiting room advertising support for carers.