Bellingham Practice Also known as The Bellingham Practice

Updated 22 January 2019

The Bellingham Practice is located in the village of Bellingham in Northumberland and provides care and treatment to 3,555 patients of all ages, based on a Personal Medical Services (PMS) contract. The practice is part of the NHS Northumberland clinical commissioning group (CCG). We visited the following location as part of the inspection:

• The Bellingham Practice, Hexham, Northumberland, NE48 2HE.

The practice serves an area where deprivation is lower than the England average. In general, people living in more deprived areas tend to have a greater need for health services. The Bellingham Practice has fewer patients aged under 18 years of age, and more patients over 65 years, than the England averages. The percentage of people with a long-standing health condition is below the England average. Life expectancy for women and men is similar to the England averages. National data showed that 0.5% of the population are Asian and 0.7% are from other non-white ethnic groups.

The main practice is located in a two-storey building. All consultation and treatment rooms are on the ground floor. Disabled access is provided throughout and the car park has dedicated parking bays for patients with disabilities.

The practice has three GP partners (one male and two female), a nurse practitioner (female), a practice nurse (female), a treatment room nurse (female), two healthcare assistants (female), a practice manager, an IT/HR/medicines manager, and a team of administrative and reception staff. The practice provides teaching sessions for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th year medical students and 1st year nursing students. Training placements were also provided for trainee GPs. A GP registrar, (female, trainee doctor), was on placement at the time of our visit.

When the practice is closed patients can access out-of-hours care via Vocare, known locally as Northern Doctors, and the NHS 111 service.

Updated 22 January 2019

This practice is rated as outstanding overall. (Previous inspection – 2 October 2014 – rating – good).

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Outstanding

Are services responsive? – Outstanding

Are services well-led? - Outstanding

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Bellingham Surgery on 19 November 2018, as part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

• The practice had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes.
• Feedback from patients who use the service was continually positive about the way that staff treated them. The practice provided an exceptional service where patients were truly respected and valued as individuals and were empowered as partners in their care. Staff were very good at involving patients in decisions about their care and treatment and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect. This was reflected in the very positive feedback the practice received from the national GP patient survey.
• The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care and treatment they provided. Staff ensured that care and treatment was delivered in line with evidence-based guidelines.
• Services were tailored to meet the needs of individual patients and were delivered in a way that ensured flexibility, choice and continuity of care.
• The practice encouraged learning and improvement, and staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to carry out their roles.
• The leadership, governance and culture within the practice were central to driving and improving the delivery of high-quality, person-centred care. The practice had a very clear vision to deliver high quality care and promote good outcomes for patients. This was supported by a highly effective business plan and business planning process. High standards were promoted and owned by all practice staff.
• Governance processes and systems for risk management, performance and quality improvement operated effectively.

We rated the practice outstanding for providing caring, responsive and well led services because:

• Patients’ individual needs and preferences were central to the practice’s delivery of tailored services. For example, leaders had reduced the risk of avoidable hospital admissions by actively engaging with a local scheme to give direct access to the local community hospital for people with an emergency healthcare plan. They had streamlined the recall process for annual health checks for patients with long term conditions (LTCs), which had lowered the number of missed appointments and increased the efficiency of the service. They had reinvested savings in clinician time to improve access to general appointments. This had supported an improved customer experience as reflected in the very positive feedback patients gave the service. The practice understood the challenges faced by patients living in a rural area. They had identified areas where there were gaps in the service locally and had taken steps to address these, by negotiating improved access for their patients. Staff actively engaged with the local community, to help ensure the surgery could stay open in adverse weather conditions and, so that vulnerable patients living in outlying rural areas could continue to receive a care and treatment.
• Patients could access services and appointments in a way and at a time that suited them. The practice’s performance on the National GP Patient survey was higher than both local and national averages, across all indicators relating to the responsiveness and timeliness of the service. For some of these, the performance was much higher than average and demonstrated a positive variation when compared to local and national averages. They had improved access for young people by providing targeted out-of-hours appointments at a clinic on a Thursday evening and implementing online consultations aimed at young people. They had attained the ‘You’re Welcome’ accreditation, which is a set of quality criteria aimed at supporting primary care to deliver young people friendly health services.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGPChief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 22 January 2019

Updated 22 January 2019

Updated 22 January 2019

Updated 22 January 2019

Updated 22 January 2019

Updated 22 January 2019