McKenzie House

Updated 10 January 2022

McKenzie House is located in Hartlepool at:

17 Kendal Road

Hartlepool

TS25 1QU

The practice has branch surgeries at:

Throston Medical Centre

82 Wiltshire Way

Hartlepool

TS26 0XT

Victoria Medical Practice

The Health Centre

Victoria Road

Hartlepool

TS26 8DF

We did not visit these branch surgeries on the day of this inspection.

The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the Regulated Activities; diagnostic and screening procedures, maternity and midwifery services,family planning, and treatment of disease, disorder or injury. These are delivered from all sites.

The practice offers services from both a main practice and two branch surgeries. Patients can access services at any of these surgeries.

The practice is situated within the Tees Valley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and delivers General Medical Services to a patient population of about 18,760. This is part of a contract held with NHS England.

The practice is part of a wider network of GP practices ‘Hartlepool Health’ Primary Care Network, which delivers care to approximately 31,300 patients in the locality.

Information published by Public Health England shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the second lowest decile (two of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice population is relative to others.

According to the latest available data, the ethnic make-up of the practice area is 1.2% Asian, 97.9% White, 0.2% Black, 0.6% Mixed, and 0.1% Other.

The age distribution of the practice population closely mirrors the local and national averages.

McKenzie House is a registered location of the McKenzie Group Practice (the provider) who provide GP services to patients from six premises within the town (some are registered locations; some are branch sites of registered locations).

Across the whole provision of the McKenzie Group, there is a team of nine GPs who provide cover at all of the practices. The provider has a team of 12 nurse practitioners who provide clinics at the main sites and the branch locations. The GPs are supported at the practice by a team of reception and administration staff. The practice manager provides managerial oversight at all of the practices.

Due to the enhanced infection prevention and control measures put in place since the pandemic and in line with the national guidance, most GP appointments were telephone consultations. If a GP needs to see a patient face-to-face then the patient is offered a choice of either the main GP location or one of the branch surgeries.

Extended access is provided locally by Hartlepool and Stockton Health federation (HaSH), where late evening and weekend appointments are available. Out of hours services were provided by integrated urgent care services in conjunction with HaSH, via NHS111.

Updated 10 January 2022

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection 13 May 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

As part of our inspection process, we also look at the quality of care for specific population groups. The population groups are rated as:

Older People – Good

People with long-term conditions – Good

Families, children and young people – Good

Working age people (including those recently retired and students – Good

People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable – Good

People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia) - Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at McKenzie House Practice on 24 January 2018. The reason for the inspection was as part of our inspection programme. We also visited the two branch sites on 25 January 2018. Additional supporting information was received following the inspection.

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.

• The practice was open and transparent, and had systems in place to adhere to the Duty of Candour.

• The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.

• Quality improvement was embedded into the practice.There was a comprehensive programme of clinical audit which was used to measure improvements to patient care.

• The practice displayed a strong commitment to multidisciplinary working and could evidence how this positively impacted on individual patient care.

• Discussion with staff and feedback from patients showed that staff were highly motivated to deliver care that was respectful, kind and caring.

• The practice organised and delivered their services to meet the needs of their patient population.They were proactive in understanding the needs of the different patient groups.

• The practice demonstrated a clear commitment to developing increased skill mix within all staff teams and there was clear evidence of the upskilling of staff.

• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.

We saw areas of outstanding practice:

• The practice had developed effective multi-disciplinary working arrangements for identifying and supporting more complex patients. We saw evidence from minutes of meetings involving among others; Social Services, Cleveland Constabulary, Hartlepool and North Tees NHS Trust. We saw agreed plans were in place for the management of a number of patients with complex needs, which set out agreed parameters and ensured consistency in approach.

• The practice demonstrated a strong commitment to on-going development and innovative practice for the benefits of their practice population.

• The leadership in the practice drove continuous improvement and staff were accountable for delivering change. There was a clear proactive approach to seeking out and embedding new ways of providing care and treatment.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice