The Village Medical Centre

Updated 4 April 2019

The Village Medical Centre is located in the heart of Woolton, this is a suburb in the south of Liverpool. This area has a life expectancy above the national average. The practice has 3,500 patients with a higher than average number of patients being over 65 years of

age. There are two male GPs and one female GP. Supporting them is a team including two practice nurses, a practice manager, and a team of seven reception / administrative staff.

Medical services are provided by a General Medical Services (GMS) contract by the three GPs. The practice is open from 8am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday. Open access is available each morning for GP appointments and each afternoon bookable appointments are available.

Extended hours are available from 7am to 6.30pm on a day which changes each week. The practice provides telephone consultations, pre-bookable consultations, urgent consultations and home visits.

The practice treats patients of all ages and provides a range of primary medical services. Home visits and telephone consultations are available for patients who required them, including housebound patients and older patients. There are also arrangements to ensure patients

receive urgent medical assistance out of hours when the practice is closed.

Updated 4 April 2019

This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous rating 10 April 2018 – Good)

The well-led key question at this inspection is rated as: Good.

We carried out an announced focused inspection at The Village Medical Centre on 27 February 2019 to follow up a breach of regulation from our last inspection carried out on 10 April 2018.

The full comprehensive report on the April 2018 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Village Medical Centre on our website at .

At the previous inspection of 10 April 2018, we rated the practice as ‘good’ overall but as ‘requires improvement’ in the well-led key question. We identified a breach of Regulation 17 HSCA (RA) Regulations 2014 - Good governance. This was because the provider did not have an up to date children’s safeguarding policy and they did not ensure that past medical records for patients were stored securely and protected against the risk of accidental loss, including corruption, damage or destruction.

This inspection was a follow up inspection to confirm that the provider had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements. Our key findings were as follows:

• The provider had taken action to meet the breach of regulation.
• The children’s safeguarding policy had been updated.
• Past medical records were stored safely and the practice was about to embark on a project to have all patient records removed off site.

We also looked at action taken in response to the recommendations we had made to the provider following the last inspection visit. We found:

• The system in place for cascading patient safety alerts had been reviewed. Staff signatures were collected to show they had viewed the alert and records were made of any actions that were taken.
• The manager had reviewed the maintenance of the building and some repair work had been carried out. Consultation rooms, flooring in the patient waiting area and the patient toilet had been redecorated. However, the reception and patient waiting area still had walls that had large cracks and were in need of repair.
• The manager had reviewed the access restrictions for disabled patients at the entrance to the practice and a new disabled patient call system was now in place.
• A new virtual Patient Participation Group was set up to gain patient views about the services they received.
• Formal registers for patients who were vulnerable, at risk of safeguarding matters and those whose circumstances make them vulnerable such as patients with a learning disability were in place. These registers were up to date and reviewed regularly at practice meetings.
• Records were in place to show that all health care assistants were competent to undertake the extended duties they performed.
• The manager had implemented agendas for all staff minutes and completed robust minutes of each meeting.
• The manager had reviewed the practice's computer system to identify patients and family members who were carers, so that support services could be offered to carers and the people they cared for.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• A risk assessment of the damaged walls throughout the practice should be undertaken.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice

Please refer to the evidence table for further information.

Updated 13 June 2018

Updated 13 June 2018

Updated 13 June 2018

Updated 13 June 2018

Updated 13 June 2018

Updated 13 June 2018