Grassendale Medical Practice

Updated 23 January 2017

Grassendale Medical Centre is based in an affluent area of Liverpool. There were 8090 patients on the practice register at the time of our inspection and the practice had a higher proportion of elderly patients.

The practice is managed by three partners, two male GPs and the practice manager. There are three salaried female GPs. There is a nurse prescriber and two practice nurses and a health care assistant. Members of clinical staff are supported by a practice manager, reception and administration staff.

The practice telephone lines are open 8am to 6.30pm every weekday. The practice offers extended hours from 7am to 8pm but the days vary from week to week depending on the availability of clinicians. Patients requiring a GP outside of normal working hours are advised to contact the GP out of hours service, provided by Urgent Care 24 by calling 111.

The practice has a General Medical Services (GMS) contract and has enhanced services contracts which include childhood vaccinations. 

Updated 23 January 2017

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this practice on 12 May 2016. A breach of legal requirements was found. After the comprehensive inspection, the practice wrote to us to say what they would do to meet legal requirements in relation to:

• Regulation 19 HSCA (RA) Regulations 2014 Fit and proper persons employed.
• Regulation 12 HSCA (RA) Regulations 2014 Safe care and treatment.

We undertook this focused inspection to check that they had followed their plan and to confirm that they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to those requirements. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Grassendale Medical Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Our key findings were as follows:

• The practice had addressed the issues identified during the previous inspection. Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks had been completed for all necessary staff.
• The practice had carried out health and safety risk assessments and completed actions identified.
• Monitoring systems had been improved to manage and mitigate safety risks.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 4 July 2016

The practice is rated as good for providing services for patients with long term conditions.

• The practice had registers in place for several long term conditions including diabetes and asthma.

• Longer appointments and home visits were available when needed.

• The practice had systems in place to arrange annual reviews for patients to check their health and medicines needs were being met.

• For those patients with the most complex needs, the GP worked with relevant health and care professionals to deliver a multidisciplinary package of care.

Updated 4 July 2016

The practice is rated as good for providing services for families, children and young people.

• The practice regularly liaised with health visitors to review vulnerable children and new mothers.

• 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.

Updated 4 July 2016

The practice is rated as good for providing services for older people.

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

• The practice participated in meetings with other healthcare professionals to discuss any concerns.

• There was a named GP for the over 75s. 

Updated 4 July 2016

The practice is rated as good for providing services for working age people.

• The needs of this population group had been identified and the practice had adjusted the services it offered to ensure these were accessible.

• There were online systems available to allow patients to make appointments.

• The practice did offer extended hours opening but this did vary depending on clinicians’ availability.

Updated 4 July 2016

The practice is rated as good for providing services for people experiencing poor mental health.

• Patients

• Those that did not attend had alerts placed on their records so they could be reviewed opportunistically.

• The practice liaised with the local mental health teams to support these patients.

Updated 4 July 2016

The practice is rated as good for providing services for people whose circumstances make them vulnerable.

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

• The practice had carried out annual health checks and longer appointments were available for people with a learning disability.