The Hollies Medical Practice

Updated 3 March 2016

The Hollies Medical Practice is located in Tamworth, Staffordshire and is situated in a purpose built building near the centre of town. It shares the building with another GP practice and members of the community health team. The practice has seven GP partners and a list size of 15,360 patients. The partners are assisted by a clinical team consisting of two salaried GPs and a GP returner that combined to equal 7.44 whole time equivalent doctors. The nursing team consisted of two nurse practitioners, three practice nurses, two healthcare assistants and a phlebotomist that combined to equal 5.63 whole time equivalent staff. The administration team consists of a practice manager, office manager, quality manager and 16 supporting staff. The practice was a training practice and had GPs in training from a local GP training programme.

The practice area is one of less deprivation when compared with the local and national averages. Life expectancy is in line with the national average.

The practice is open from 8am to 6.30pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays and from 7am to 6.30 pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays. When the practice is closed the telephone lines are diverted to the NHS 111 service and there is an out of hours service provided by Staffordshire Doctors Urgent Care. The nearest hospitals with A&E units are situated at Sutton Coldfield and Burton upon Trent. There are minor injury units at the Robert Peel Hospital in Tamworth and at a walk in centre in Burntwood.

Updated 3 March 2016

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Hollies Medical Centre on 11 January 2016. Overall the practice is rated as Good.

Please note that when referring to information throughout this report, for example any reference to the Quality and Outcomes Framework data, this relates to the most recent information available to the CQC at that time.

Our key findings were as follows:

• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns and to report incidents and near misses. Information about safety was recorded, monitored, appropriately reviewed and addressed.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance. Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and any further training needs had been identified and planned.
• Patients said they were treated with 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 told us they could get an appointment when they needed one. Urgent appointments were 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, patients and third party organisations, which it acted on.

• The practice achieved a 100% score for the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) in 2014/15 and exception rates could be explained.

• There was a high level of clinical governance evidenced through a constructive engagement with staff, a failsafe patient recall system and proactively reviewed performance management arrangements.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 3 March 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of people with long-term conditions. All patients were reviewed by a nominated GP when diagnosed.  We found that the nursing staff had the knowledge, skills and competency to respond to the needs of patients with long term conditions such as diabetes and asthma. Longer appointments and home visits were available when needed and reviews were coordinated to minimise the required number of patient visits. All patients with a long term condition were offered a review to check that their health and medication needs were being met. Written management plans had been developed for patients with long term conditions and those at risk of hospital admissions. For those people with the most complex needs, the GPs worked with relevant health and social care professionals to deliver a multidisciplinary package of care. 

Updated 3 March 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 who were at risk, for example, children and young people who had protection plans in place. Appointments were available outside of school hours and the premises were suitable for children and babies. Same day emergency appointments were available for children. There were screening and vaccination programmes in place and the child immunisation rates were in line with the local Clinical Commissioning Group averages. The practice worked closely with the health visiting team to encourage attendance. New mothers and babies were offered post-natal checks.

Updated 3 March 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of older people. Every patient over the age of 75 years had a named GP and all hospital admissions were reviewed. This included patients that resided in care homes.  The practice offered proactive, personalised care to meet the needs of the older people in its population and had a range of enhanced services, for example, in case management. All over 75 year olds had a completed care plan and the practice staff had regular communication with the community geriatrician. The practice was responsive to the needs of older people and offered home visits and longer appointments as required. The practice identified if patients were also carers.

Updated 3 March 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. A range of on-line services were available, including medication requests, booking appointments and access to health medical records. The practice offered all patients aged 40 to 75 years old a health check with the nursing team. The practice offered a full range of health promotion and screening that reflects the needs for this age group.

Updated 3 March 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia). Patients who presented with an acute mental health crisis were offered same day appointments. People experiencing poor mental health were offered an annual physical health check. Dementia screening was offered to patients identified in the at risk groups. It carried out advance care planning for patients with dementia.

The practice added patients to the mental health register after a single simple paranoid episode and monitored them annually. Staff had been trained as ‘dementia friends’. Dementia friends are trained volunteers who encourage others to learn about dementia. The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of patients with mental health needs. This included support and services for patients with substance misuse and screening for alcohol misuse with onward referral to the local alcohol service if required. The practice also worked closely with the health visiting team to support mothers experiencing post-natal depression. It had told patients about how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations and signposted patients to the advocacy service where appropriate.

Updated 3 March 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable. We found that the practice enabled all patients to access their GP services and assisted those with hearing, sight and language difficulties.

The practice held a register of patients with a learning disability and had developed individual care plans for each patient. The practice carried out annual health checks and offered longer appointments for patients with a learning disability.

The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of vulnerable people. It had told 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.