Lee Road Surgery

Updated 18 February 2016

Lee Road Surgery is in Blackheath in the London Borough of Lewisham. The practice has four partners who manage the practice which is based at a single site. The practice is based in a former residential building which has been extended and refurbished to ensure that it is fit for clinical use.

The practice provides primary medical services to approximately 10,800 patients. The practice also employs four salaried GPs. There are also three practice nurses, a practice manager, and an IT manager. There are 10 other reception and administrators at the practice.

The practice is contracted to provide Personal Medical Services (PMS) and is registered with the CQC for the following regulated activities: treatment of disease, disorder or injury, maternity and midwifery services, family planning, surgical procedures and diagnostic and screening procedures at one location.

The practice provides a number of enhanced services, including childhood immunisation, extended opening hours, patient participation and rotavirus and shingles immunisations.

The practice is open from 8:00am until 6:30pm Mondays and Wednesdays and Fridays and from 7:00am to 6:30pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Outside of normal opening hours the practice uses a locally based out of hours provider.

Updated 18 February 2016

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Lee Road Surgery on 3 November 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Please note that when referring to information throughout this report, for example any reference to the Quality and Outcomes Framework data, this relates to the most recent information available to the CQC at that time.

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

• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.

• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.

• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.

• Patients said they were treated 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 and easy to understand.

• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and that there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.

• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.

• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

• The practices patient satisfaction survey findings were significantly higher than the national or local averages in several area. Most notably patients found access to the practice to be significantly better, and both the appointments system and the helpfulness of staff were rated highly by patients.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• The practice should ensure that all relevant contact details are included in the business continuity plan.

• Although a health and safety audit stated that it was fit for purpose, The practice should consider altering the layout of the upstairs patient toilet.

• The practice should consider fully auditing Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) diagnosis rates.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 18 February 2016

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

• Nursing staff 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 had a structured annual review to check that their health and medicines needs were being met. For those people with the most complex needs, the named GP worked with relevant health and care professionals to deliver a multidisciplinary package of care.

Updated 18 February 2016

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

• There were systems in place to identify and follow up children living in disadvantaged circumstances and who were at risk, for example, children and young people who had a high number of A&E attendances. Immunisation rates were relatively high for all standard childhood immunisations.

• Patients told us that children and young people were treated in an age-appropriate way and were recognised as individuals, and we saw evidence to confirm this.

• Records showed that 88% of all eligible patients had received a cervical smear test in the last year.

• Appointments were available outside of school hours and the premises were suitable for children and babies.

• We saw good examples of joint working with midwives, health visitors and school nurses.

Updated 18 February 2016

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

• The practice offered proactive, personalised care to meet the needs of the older people in its population.

• It was responsive to the needs of older people, and offered home visits and urgent appointments for those with enhanced needs.

Updated 18 February 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of working-age people (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 was proactive in offering online services as well as a full range of health promotion and screening that reflects the needs for this age group.

Updated 18 February 2016

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

• Ninety one per cent of people diagnosed with dementia had had their care reviewed in a face to face meeting in the last 12 months.

• Ninety four pert cent of people diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder and other psychoses had received a comprehensive, agreed care plan documented in the record, in the preceding 12 months.

• The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of people experiencing poor mental health, including those with dementia.

• It carried out advance care planning for patients with dementia.

• The practice had told patients experiencing poor mental health about how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations.

• It had a system in place to follow up patients who had attended accident and emergency where they may have been experiencing poor mental health.

• Staff had a good understanding of how to support people with mental health needs and dementia.

Updated 18 February 2016

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

• The practice held a register of patients living in vulnerable circumstances including those with a learning disability.

• It offered longer appointments for people with a learning disability.

• The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of vulnerable people.

• It had told vulnerable patients about how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations.

• Staff knew how to recognise signs of abuse in vulnerable adults and children. Staff were aware of their responsibilities regarding information sharing, documentation of safeguarding concerns and how to contact relevant agencies in normal working hours and out of hours.