Channel View Medical Practice

We carried out an inspection of this service following our annual review of the information available to us including information provided by the practice. Our review indicated that there may have been a change to the quality of care provided since the last inspection. Following our review of the information available to us, including information provided by the practice, we focused our inspection on the following key questions: Effective and Well led.

Because of the assurance received from our review of information we carried forward the ratings for the following key questions: Safe, Caring and Responsive.

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 and good for all population groups.

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 ethos was to provide an accessible and approachable patient-orientated service.
• The practice organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs.
• The way the practice was led was inclusive, supportive and promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.
• Feedback from patients who used the service was positive about accessing appointments, the treatment received, and the way staff cared for patients.
• The practice valued and welcomed feedback from patients, staff and the PPG (Patient Participation Group) and had included consultation about a future merger with another practice in the town.
• Staff told us they felt supported by the leadership team.
• There was a strong focus on working with external stakeholders and other GP practices in the locality.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

The prevalence of vulnerable (dementia and older people) in the practice population was three times higher than the national average. The practice had responded to this through the employment of specialist staff to ensure patients’ needs were met and frailty identified. For example:

• A mental health nurse who completed reviews at the practice and in patient’s homes for those patients experiencing mental health issues and dementia.
• The recent employment of a community nurse practitioner who visited frail, housebound patients and was in the process of identifying patients over the age of 80 who may be vulnerable.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Introduce systems to ensure all staff are aware of the signs of sepsis and the deteriorating patient.
• Ensure governance processes and records maintained at the practice reflect decision making processes, mitigation of risks and monitoring quality.

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