Archived: Dr CP Fairlamb and Partners

Updated 10 July 2018

Dr CP Fairlamb and Partners (known as Carodoc Surgery) is registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide primary care services. The practice provides services to around 4,500 patients from two locations:

• The Carodoc Surgery, Front Street West, Wingate, County Durham, TS28 5PZ
• Peterlee Health Centre, Bede Way, Peterlee, Co Durham, SR8 1AD

We visited both of these sites during the inspection.

The Carodoc Surgery is in purpose built premises; all patient services are on the ground floor. There is a car park beside the practice, dedicated disabled parking bays and step free access.

Peterlee Health Centre is a purpose-built premises, the health centre is shared with other primary medical services. The practice have their own dedicated consulting rooms. There are disabled parking spaces in the patient car park, with wheelchair and step free access.

The practice has a female GP partner whole time equivalent (WTE) 0.5. There is a full time female salaried GP. There are long term locum GPs working at the practice WTE 1.5. There is an advanced nurse practitioner (WTE 0.53), two practice nurses (WTE 1.64), and two healthcare assistants (WTE 1.07). There is a practice manager and assistant practice manager. There are nine (WTE 6.48) staff who undertake administration duties.

The practice teaches medical students (third and fifth year) and offers student nurse placements.

The practice trains foundation level two doctors (F2) who are qualified doctors spending 4 months in a GP practice (a medical practitioner in the undertaking a medical training programme which forms the bridge between medical school and specialist/general practice training).

The opening times at both surgeries are 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday. Consulting times are 9:30am to 11:50am, 3pm until 6pm.

The practice provides late evening, weekend and bank holiday appointments;

they are part of the local GP federation of GP practices who work together to provide appointments with GPs, nurses or health care assistants outside of their normal working hours. Patients can contact the practice reception team to arrange appointments. When this service is not provided patients requiring urgent medical care can contact the out of hours provided by the NHS 111 service.

The practice is part of NHS Durham Dales and Sedgefield clinical commission group (CCG). The practice provides services based on a General Medical Services (GMS) contract agreement for general practice.

Information from Public Health England places the area in which the practice is located in the third most deprived decile. In general, people living in more deprived areas tend to have greater need for health services. Average male life expectancy at the practice is 77 years, which is lower than the national average of 79. Average female life expectancy at the practice is 81 years, which is lower than the national average of 83 years.

Updated 10 July 2018

This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection July 2015 – Good)

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? - Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr CP Fairlamb and Partners on 17 May 2018 as part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

• The practice had systems to keep patients safe and safeguarded from abuse.
• 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.
• The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care they provided. They ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Results from the National GP Survey were mostly local and national scores.
• The practice organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. They took account of patient needs and preferences.
• Access to appointments was good. Patients were able to access care and treatment from the practice within an acceptable timescale for their needs.
• There was a focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation. The practice proactively used performance information to drive improvement.

We saw two areas of outstanding practice:

• Staff were actively engaged to monitor and improve quality and outcomes. The practice had carried out a high level of clinical audit for its size. The audits were well written and clinically relevant showing a determination to improve the service to patients and make prescribing safer. There were several two-cycle clinical audits. These included audits regarding: urinary tract infections (UTI); chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); treatment of vitamin B12 deficiency; and the use of ACE inhibitors (medications used to treat high blood pressure). As a result of these audits templates were designed for clinical staff to improve prescribing and reduce the risk of errors. There were rescue packs compiled with information for patients with chronic conditions such as COPD and management plans for diabetics. The aim of these were to improve their self-care to manage their condition. Protocols were developed and displayed on the walls of every clinical room, such as safeguarding information.
• The practice had a rate of 39% for patients accessing services on-line. The original target was 10%. They had received a letter of congratulations from NHS England who used the practice as a good example for high levels of patients using this facility.

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

Updated 10 July 2018

Updated 10 July 2018

Updated 10 July 2018

Updated 10 July 2018

Updated 10 July 2018

Updated 10 July 2018