Sorrel Bank Medical Practice

Updated 9 June 2016

Sorrel Group Practice is located in Salford. The address of the practice is 23 Bolton Road, Salford, Manchester, M6 7HL. The practice has good parking facilities and also has good public transport links.

The practice employs two GP partners (both male) and three salaried GPs (two female and one male), three practice nurses and a health care assistant (all female) as well as a team of managers and administration/reception staff. The practice is a teaching practice and has five medical students.

The practice is open between 8am and 6.30pm Monday to Friday. Appointments are from 8am to 1pm every morning and 2pm to 5.30pm daily. The practice offers a ‘walk in clinic’ on Tuesday to Friday at 7am-8am. Extra appointments are available on a Wednesday evening at 6.30pm to 8pm and on a Saturday morning at 8am to 12pm. Outside of opening hours, patients would be directed to the 111 out of hours service.

The practice has approximately 8800 patients and operates under a general medical services contract. The practice has a higher than average number of patients from the ages of 45-80 when compared with the Salford average.

Updated 9 June 2016

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Sorrel Group Practice on 28 April 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and that there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

• The practice continued to run its ‘winter pressure’ clinics even after CCG funding for this had ended.

The areas in which the practice should improve are:

• Perform a risk assessment for the use of blind chords.

• Review computer security with staff to ensure computers are locked when left unattended.

• Review the process for monitoring a patient’s international normalised ratio (INR) information before prescribing warfarin.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 9 June 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of people with long-term conditions.

• Nursing staff had lead roles in chronic disease management and patients at risk of hospital admission were identified as a priority.
• Longer appointments and home visits were available when needed.
• All these patients had a named GP and a structured annual review to check their health and medicines needs were being met. For those patients with the most complex needs, the named GP worked with relevant health and care professionals to deliver a multidisciplinary package of care.

Updated 9 June 2016

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.
• Appointments were available outside of school hours and the premises were suitable for children and babies.

Updated 9 June 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of older people.

• The practice offered proactive, personalised care to meet the needs of this population group.
• The practice was responsive to the needs of older people, and offered home visits and urgent appointments for those with enhanced needs.

Updated 9 June 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of working-age people (including those recently retired and students).

• The needs of the working age population, those recently retired and students 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 reflects the needs for this age group.

Updated 9 June 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia).

• 83% of patients diagnosed with dementia that had had their care reviewed in a face to face meeting in the last 12 months, which is comparable to the CCG average of 84%.
• The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of people experiencing poor mental health, including those with dementia.
• The practice carried out advance care planning for patients with dementia.
• The practice had told patients experiencing poor mental health about how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations.
• The practice had a system in place to follow up patients who had attended accident and emergency where they may have been experiencing poor mental health.
• Staff had a good understanding of how to support patients with mental health needs and dementia.

Updated 9 June 2016

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 and those with a learning disability.
• The practice offered longer appointments for patients with a learning disability.
• The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of vulnerable people.
• The practice 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.