Kirkdale Also known as Kirkdale Medical Centre

Updated 16 June 2017

Kirkdale Medical Centre is a small inner city practice in the Kirkdale area of Liverpool. The practice treats patients of all ages and provides a range of medical services. The staff team includes two GP partners, one part-time locum GP, one part time practice nurse, a practice manager, administrative and reception staff. There was a vacancy for a part time practice nurse that had been recently recruited to.

The practice is open Monday to Friday from 8am until 6.30pm. Patients can book appointments in person and by telephone. Patients can book on the day or in advance, home visits are offered to housebound patients and telephone consultations are available. When the practice is closed patients access the Out-of-Hours GP service by calling NHS 111.

The practice is part of NHS Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group. It is responsible for providing

primary care services to approximately 3031 patients. The practice is situated in an economically deprived area of the city. The practice has a General Medical Services (GMS) contract.

Updated 16 June 2017

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of Kirkdale on 8 October 2014. The overall rating for the practice was Good. However, the practice was rated as Requires Improvement for providing safe services. The full comprehensive report on the October 2014 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Kirkdale on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

This inspection was an announced focused review carried out on 9 May 2017 to confirm that the practice had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breach in regulation that we identified at our previous inspection on 8 October 2014. This report covers our findings in relation to those requirements and also additional improvements made since our last inspection.

Overall the practice is rated as good.

Our key findings were as follows:

• The systems to assess the risk of and to prevent and control the spread of a healthcare associated infection had been improved.

The following improvements to the service had also been made:

• Fire drills were now occurring on a regular basis and quarterly fire audits carried out.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• A record should be made of the weekly checks of cleaning standards.

• A system to ensure single use items are individually packaged and in date should be put in place.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 22 January 2015

The practice is rated as good for the population group of people with long term conditions. The practice held information about the prevalence of specific long term conditions within its patient population such as diabetes, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and hypertension. This information was reflected in the services provided, for example, reviews of conditions and treatment, screening programmes and vaccination programmes. We found staff had a programme in place to make sure no patient missed their regular reviews for long term conditions.

Updated 22 January 2015

The practice is rated as good for the population group of families, children and young people. Child health surveillance clinics were run on a weekly basis. The practice monitored any non-attendance of babies and children at these clinics and worked with the health visiting service to follow up any concerns. Staff were knowledgeable about child protection and a GP took the lead for safeguarding. Staff put alerts onto the patient’s electronic record when safeguarding concerns were raised.

Updated 22 January 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of older people. The practice was knowledgeable about the number and health needs of older patients using the service. Up to date registers of patients’ health conditions were kept. The practice ensured each person who was over the age of 75 had a named GP. The practice worked with other agencies and health providers to provide support and access specialist help when needed.

Updated 22 January 2015

The practice is rated as good for the population group of the working-age people (including those recently retired and students). We found the practice had a range of appointments available including pre-bookable, on the day and telephone consultations. Staff told us they would try to accommodate patients who were working to have early or late appointments wherever possible. Patients unable to attend during the normal opening hours were able to book to be seen at the ‘extended hours’ service which ran until 7.30pm on Wednesdays.

Updated 22 January 2015

The practice is rated as good for the population group of people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia). GPs worked with other services to review and share care with specialist teams. The practice maintained a register of patients who experienced mental health problems. The register supported clinical staff to offer patients an annual appointment for a health check and a medication review. The practice had information for patients in the waiting areas to inform them of other services available. For example, for patients who may experience depression or those who would benefit from counselling services for bereavement.

Updated 22 January 2015

The practice is rated as good for the population group of people whose circumstances may make  them vulnerable. The practice was aware of patients in vulnerable circumstances and ensured they had appropriate access to health care to meet their needs. For example, a register was maintained of patients with a learning disability and annual health care reviews were provided to these patients. Staff told us they would ensure homeless people received urgent and necessary care. They were also aware of the GP practice in the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) that took the lead for managing homeless patients’ long term care and referred patients on appropriately. Staff were knowledgeable about safeguarding vulnerable adults. They had access to the practice’s policy and procedures and had received training in this.