Background to this inspection
Updated
24 December 2019
The Yealm Medical Centre is located at Market Street, Yealmpton, Plymouth,Devon,PL8 2EA.
The surgery is in the centre of the village which had a population of about 1,600 people.
The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the Regulated Activities; diagnostic and screening procedures, maternity and midwifery services, family planning, surgical procedures and treatment of disease, disorder or injury.
The Yealm Medical Centre is within the NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group and provides services to approximately 6,000 patients under the terms of a general medical services contract. This is a contract between general practices and NHS England for delivering services to the local community.
There are six GP partners, three male and three female. The nursing team comprises two nurses and two healthcare assistants. The clinical team is supported by a practice a manager and an administration and a reception team.
The practice has dispensing facilities for patients who lived more than a mile away from a dispensing chemist; approximately 70% of the practice population uses this service. The dispensary is open during surgery times. A delivery driver is available to ensure medicines reach isolated patients.
The practice population ethnic profile is predominantly White British and amongst the most affluent practice populations in England. There is a practice patient age distribution of male and female patients' broadly equivalent to national average figures. The average male life expectancy for the practice area is 82 years which is higher than the national average of 79 years; female life expectancy is 85 years which is also higher than the National average of 83 years.
Updated
24 December 2019
Following our annual regulatory review of the information available to us, we inspected this service on 19 November 2019. The service was last inspected in August 2017. It was rated as good for each of the five key questions and rated good overall. This inspection looked at the following key questions; effective and well led.
Because of the assurance received from our review of information we carried forward the ratings for the following key questions: safe, caring and responsive.
Are services effective? 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 based our judgement of the quality of care at this service on a combination of:
- what we found when we inspected
- information from our ongoing monitoring of data about services and
- information from the provider, patients, the public and other organisations.
We have rated this practice as good overall and good for all population groups.
We found that:
- The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
- Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
- The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.
- Governance systems were robust and regularly reviewed.
- The practice was engaged in local initiatives and worked alongside partners in the local healthcare system.
However, the areas where the practice should make improvement are:
- Continue to take action to improve uptake for the cervical screening programme to meet the national target of 80%.
- Continue to take action to improve uptake for the child immunisation programme to meet the national target of 90%.
We found an area of outstanding practice
- The practice had produced a “virtual tour” of the surgery, which was available over the internet. Patients, such as those with learning disability, dementia or mental health problems who were apprehensive about accessing the surgery were able to take a virtual tour of the surgery from their home. Patients and their carers reported that this helped to allay their apprehension and prepared them for what to expect.
Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.
Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP
Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care