Archived: Kidderminster Medical Centre Also known as Forest Glades Medical Centre

Updated 14 May 2015

Forest Glades Medical Centre is situated close to Kidderminster town centre. The practice has been in existence for over 40 years. It is located within Kidderminster Medical Centre and shares the premises with another GP practice and a range of NHS healthcare services. In 18 months’ time, the GP practices at the medical centre will merge to form one practice and move to a new location which is shortly to be built. Plans have been finalised for this and were displayed in the patient waiting area.

The practice is in an area with some pockets of social and economic deprivation. The practice has a higher proportion of patients with long term medical conditions and who smoke. The practice provides care to people in a local dementia care home. it also continues to provide care for its own patients who are admitted to the Wyre Forest Community Unit.

Within the building there are a range of NHS services including blood testing, chiropody, physiotherapy and anti-coagulant testing. Bereavement and mental health counselling sessions are held there. Community midwife services are located at a nearby children’s centre.

The practice has five GP partners, four male and one female. The practice has four practice nurses and a healthcare assistant. The clinical team are supported by a practice manager, and a team of administrative and reception staff. When the practice merger takes place, all staff, including GP partners, will be combined to form one team. Staff have been fully consulted about this.

The practice has a General Medical Services (GMS) contract with NHS England. The GMS contract is the contract between general practices and NHS England for delivering primary care services to local communities.

This was the first time the CQC had inspected the practice. Based on information we gathered as part of our intelligent monitoring systems we had no concerns about the practice. Data we reviewed showed that the practice was achieving results that were above average with other practices within the area.

The practice does not provide out of hours services to their own patients. Patients are provided with information about local out of hours services which they can access by using the NHS 111 phone number.

Updated 14 May 2015

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out a comprehensive inspection of Forest Glades Medical Centre on 10 December 2014. The inspection team was led by a CQC inspector and included a GP specialist advisor, a practice manager specialist advisor and an Expert by Experience who had personal experience of using primary medical services.

We found Forest Glades Medical Centre provided a good service to patients in the key areas we looked at. This applied to patients across all age ranges and to patients with varied needs due to their health or social circumstances.

Our key findings were as follows:

• The practice had systems for monitoring and maintaining the safety of the practice and the care and treatment they provided to their patients.
• The practice was proactive in helping people with long term conditions to manage their health and had arrangements in place to make sure their health was monitored regularly.
• The practice was clean and hygienic and had arrangements for reducing the risks from healthcare associated infections.
• Patients felt that they were treated with dignity and respect. They felt that their GP listened to them and treated them as individuals.
• The practice had a well-established and well trained team of staff who had expertise and experience in a wide range of health conditions.

We saw several areas of outstanding practice including:

• The practice had obtained funding to provide additional health checks on its highest risk patients aged over 75. This comprised a total of 120 patients who had not visited the practice for over 18 months and may therefore have had difficulty accessing healthcare services.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 14 May 2015

This practice is rated as good for the care of people with long term conditions, for example asthma and diabetes. All of these patients had a named GP and a structured annual review to check that their health and medication 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. This included working with a community matron who provided support to patients with long term medical conditions.

Updated 14 May 2015

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. 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. Emergency processes were in place and referrals were made for children and pregnant women whose health deteriorated suddenly. The practice provided a family planning service.

Updated 14 May 2015

This practice is rated as good for the care of older patients. Patients over the age of 75 had a named GP and were included on the practice's ‘avoiding unplanned admissions’ list to alert the team to patients who may be vulnerable. The GPs carried out visits to patients’ homes if they were unable to travel to the practice for appointments. The practice was in the process of delivering its flu vaccination programme. The practice nurse planned to provide these for patients in their own homes if their health prevented them from attending the clinics at the surgery. The practice worked with two local care homes to provide a responsive service to the patients who lived there.

The practice had obtained funding to provide additional health checks on its highest risk patients aged over 75. This comprised of a total of 120 patients who had not visited the practice for over 18 months and may therefore have difficultly accessing healthcare services. Patients received a home visit to review medication and have checks on their weight, blood pressure and pulse. nosed renal (kidney) failure.

Updated 14 May 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of working-age patients (including those recently retired and students). The needs of this population group 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 reflected the needs of this age group.

Updated 14 May 2015

This practice is rated as good for the care of patients experiencing poor mental health (including patients with dementia). The practice had a register of patients at the practice with mental health support and care needs and invited them for annual health checks. Staff described close working relationships with the local mental health team which worked with the practice to identify patients’ needs and to provide patients with counselling, support and information. Care plans were in place for all patients with dementia. We were told copies of these plans were also held in patients’ homes.

Updated 14 May 2015

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 homeless people and those with a learning disability. The practice had carried out annual health checks for patients with a learning disability and offered them longer appointments if needed.

The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of vulnerable patients. This included the local Learning Disability Enhanced Service. The practice had informed 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.