Archived: Selly Oak Health Centre

Updated 6 September 2016

Selly Oak Health Centre is located in Selly Oak, a district in south west Birmingham in the West Midlands. It has two GP partners (one male and one female) and two male salaried GPs, operating from a building shared with a walk-in centre in Selly Oak.

Selly Oak Health Centre provides primary medical services to patients in a residential suburban area and has a population of patient groups that is in line with local averages. The practice area is one of a lower than average rate of deprivation at 25% when compared with the local average of 37% and slightly higher than the national average of 22%. The practice patient age groups are lower for those aged under 18 years than the local and national averages, and higher than both local and national averages for over 65 years.

The GPs are supported by a business manager, a deputy practice manager/senior receptionist, two practice nurses, a healthcare assistant, administration and receptionist staff. There were 5175 patients registered with the practice at the time of the inspection.

The practice has a General Medical Services (GMS) contract with NHS England. The GMS contract is the contract between general practices and NHS England for delivering primary care services to local communities. The practice also provides minor surgery.

The practice opens Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 6.30pm, with appointments available between these times. The practice is closed at weekends. When the practice is closed during daytime hours cover is provided by Southdoc. Patients are advised of this service by telephone message, information on the website and in the practice leaflet. Extended hours are available on Tuesday and Thursday evenings until 8pm for pre-bookable appointments.

The practice does not provide an out-of-hours service but has alternative arrangements in place for patients to be seen when the practice is closed. For example, if patients call the practice when it is closed, an answerphone message gives the telephone number they should ring depending on the circumstances. Information on the out-of-hours service (provided by Primecare) is available on the practice’s website and in the patient practice leaflet. There were also two walk-in centres nearby that patients could access.

Home visits are available for patients who are housebound or too ill to attend the practice for appointments. There is also an online service which allows patients to order repeat prescriptions, book appointments and to make changes to personal details. The practice also provides an email address for patients to contact reception staff for non-urgent queries.

The practice provides care for patients at a local convent, a nearby retirement village, a local approved premises and a local care home. (Approved premises are accommodation in the community for convicted prisoners upon release under licence, or those on bail, who would not be suitable to live elsewhere). GPs visit weekly and also respond to urgent heath care needs when required.

The practice treats patients of all ages and provides a range of medical services. This includes disease management such as asthma, diabetes and heart disease. Other appointments are available for maternity care and travel vaccinations.

Updated 6 September 2016

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Selly Oak Health Centre on 2 August 2016. The overall rating for this service is good.

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

• Processes and procedures were in place to keep patients safe. This included a system for reporting and recording significant events, keeping these under review and sharing learning where this occurred.
• The practice was aware of and provided services according to the needs of their patient population. This included transient patients such as students, asylum seekers and refugees.
• Staff received regular training and skill updates to ensure they had the appropriate skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Regular meetings and discussions were held with staff and multi-disciplinary teams to ensure patient received the best care and treatment in a coordinated way.
• Patients told us they were treated with dignity and respect and that they were fully involved in decisions about their care and treatment.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand. Patients told us that they knew how to complain if they needed to.
• The practice had an active Patient Participation Group (PPG). The PPG were proactive in representing patients and assisting the practice in making improvements to the services provided.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff told us they felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from patients, which it acted on. Staff appeared motivated to deliver high standards of care and there was evidence of team working throughout the practice.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Continue to encourage interaction with carers so they are added to the carers register and build on the services and support made available for carers.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 6 September 2016

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

• The practice nurses had lead roles in chronic disease management and patients at risk of hospital admission were identified as a priority.
• Nursing staff had received appropriate training in chronic disease management, for example asthma and diabetes.
• Longer appointments and home visits were available when needed.
• All patients diagnosed with a long term condition had a named GP and a structured annual review to check that their health and medicine needs were being met.
• Clinical staff had close working relationships with external health professionals to ensure patients received up to date care.

Updated 6 September 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of families, children and young people.

• Same day appointments were offered to all children under the age of five.
• Appointments were available outside of school hours and the premises were suitable for children and babies.
• Patients told us that children and young people were treated in an age-appropriate way and were recognised as individuals, and we saw evidence to confirm this.
• Bi-weekly midwife and weekly health visitor clinics were held at the practice.
• Childhood immunisation rates for the vaccinations given were comparable to local and national averages.
• 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 accident and emergency (A&E) attendances.
• The practice’s uptake for the cervical screening programme was 81% which was comparable to the local and national averages of 80% and 82% respectively.
• The practice also offered a number of online services including requesting repeat medicines and booking appointments.

Updated 6 September 2016

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

• The practice offered personalised care to meet the needs of the older people in its population. It was responsive to the needs of older patients, and offered home visits and rapid access appointments for those with enhanced needs.
• The practice offered a range of enhanced services, for example, in dementia and end of life care.
• Nationally reported data showed that outcomes for patients were good for conditions commonly found in older patients.
• The practiced provides care for patients at a local convent, a nearby retirement village, a local bail hostel (approved premises) and a local care home. GPs visited weekly and also responded to urgent heath care needs when required.
• A direct line was provided to access GPs for patients living in local care homes.

Updated 6 September 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of working-age patients (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 services that reflected the needs of this age group.
• The practice nurses had oversight for the management of a number of clinical areas, including immunisations, cervical cytology and some long term conditions.
• Health promotion advice was offered such as smoking cessation and nutrition. There was accessible health promotion material available at the practice and on its website.
• Patients were able to access telephone appointments which were available to them without time off work needing to taken.
• Travel vaccinations (except yellow fever) were carried out by the practice.

Updated 6 September 2016

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

• The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of patients experiencing poor mental health, including those with dementia. It carried out advanced care planning and annual health checks for patients with dementia and poor mental health.
• Staff were trained to recognise patients presenting with mental health conditions and to carry out comprehensive assessments.
• The practice had advised patients experiencing poor mental health how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations. It had a system in place to follow up patients who had attended A&E where they may have been experiencing poor mental health.

• Patients with mental health concerns such as schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder and other psychoses with agreed care plans in place were 93% which was above the CCG and national averages of 88%. The practice exception rate was 0% which was below the CCG and national averages of 13%.

Updated 6 September 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of patients whose circumstances may make them vulnerable.

• Staff had been trained to recognise signs of abuse in vulnerable adults and children and the action they should take if they had concerns. There were lead members of staff for safeguarding, and GPs were trained to an appropriate level in safeguarding adults and children.
• The practice held a register of patients living in vulnerable circumstances including those patients with a learning disability.
• Longer appointments were available for patients with a learning disability. The practice had carried out annual health checks for 60% of the patients on their register (10).
• Clinical staff regularly worked with multidisciplinary teams in the case management of vulnerable patients. Alerts were placed on these patients’ records so that staff knew they might need to be prioritised and offered additional attention such as longer appointments.
• Support was provided to patients at a nearby bail hostel (approved premises) providing interim housing for people leaving prison.