Archived: St Andrews Group Practice Branch

Updated 24 December 2015

St Andrews Group Practice’s practice is located in a residential area of Hull and serves the surrounding areas of West Hull. There are approx. 1,850 patients on the practice list and the majority of patients are of white British background. There are three GP partners two of which are male and one is female. There are two practice nurses and one healthcare assistant. They are supported by a business manager, reception and administrative staff. All GPs and clinical staff could provide healthcare services across a number of the groups other practices in Hull. Patients also had the choice of which practice they could visit.

The practice is in a comparatively deprived area of deprivation and has a higher than average number of patients with health related problems in daily life and patients in receipt of Disability Allowance.

The practice is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to provide the regulated activities of diagnostic and screening procedures; family planning; maternity and midwifery services; surgical procedures, and treatment of disease, disorder and injury.

The practice is open for appointments from 8.00am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday. Saturday appointments are not available at this practice but can be arranged at another practice registered in the group. Out of Hours services are provided via the 111 service.

The practice has a General Medical Service (GMS) contract and also offers enhanced services for example; childhood vaccination and immunisation scheme, minor surgery and timely diagnosis and support for people with dementia. The practice currently does not have an active patient participation group (PPG).

Updated 24 December 2015

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at St Andrews Group Practice on 22 September 2015.

Overall the practice is rated as good.

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

• Pre-bookable and urgent appointments were available the same day.
• The practice had good facilities including disabled access to first floor consulting rooms.
• Information about services and how to complain was available in the practice leaflet and on their website. The practice sought patient views about improvements that could be made to the service.
• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment. Information was provided to help patients understand the care available to them.
• The practice safely and effectively provided services for all patient groups. The staff were caring and ensured all treatments being provided followed best practice guidance.
• Weekly educational meetings took place for all staff.
• Daily meetings for all clinical staff took place which was managed by the on call GP.

However there were areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.

Importantly the provider should:

• Ensure any alerts are acted on and a system is in place to ensure these are completed.
• Ensure practice changes and future arrangements are communicated for clinical and administration staff.
• Ensure record keeping for significant events in respect of actions taken is clear, concise and positive outcomes are recorded.
• Ensure infection control audits including hand wash audits are completed and there is a nominated infection control lead appointed at the practice.

• Ensure arrangements are in place for checking emergency medicine held at the practice.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 24 December 2015

The practice is rated good for the care of people with long-term conditions. These patients had a regular review with either the GP and/or the nurse to check their health and medication. Nursing staff had lead roles in chronic disease management and patients at risk of hospital admission were identified as a priority. Patients were encouraged to manage their conditions and were referred to health education and other in-house services when necessary, for example a dietician. Longer appointments and home visits were available when needed. All these patients had a named GP and a structured annual review to check that their health and medication needs were being met. For those people with the most complex needs, the named GP worked with relevant health and care professionals to deliver a multidisciplinary package of care.

Updated 24 December 2015

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 good for all standard childhood immunisations. Patients told us that children and young people were treated in an age-appropriate way and were recognised as individuals. The practice offer extended clinics for new born babies along with post natal checks. Appointments were available outside of school hours and the premises were suitable for children and babies. We saw good examples of joint working with midwives, health visitors and school nurses.

Updated 24 December 2015

The practice is rated good for the care of older people. The practice offered proactive, personalised care to meet the needs of the older people in its population, if necessary as well as rapid access appointments for those with enhanced needs. All patients over the age of 75 have a named GP. The practice works closely with the local medicines management service for patients in care homes. The practice offered home visits and usual doctor appointments to improve continuity of care. The practice had regular contact with community nurses and participated in meetings with other healthcare professionals to discuss any concerns.

Updated 24 December 2015

The practice is rated good for the care of working-age people (including those recently retired and students). The needs of this population group had been identified and the practice had adjusted the services it offered to ensure these were accessible. For example, the practice opened at 8.00am and evenings until 6.30pm for those people who could not attend during normal opening hours. The practice could also refer patients to one of their other registered practices in the group at peak times. A dedicated on-call GP was available for emergency telephone advice. The practice also offered online services as well as a full range of health promotion and screening that reflected the needs for this age group. The practice offered NHS health checks for all patients in the 40-74 age group.

Updated 24 December 2015

The practice is rated good for the care of people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia). 100%of people experiencing poor mental health had received an annual physical health check. The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of people experiencing poor mental health, including those with dementia. It carried out advanced 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. It had a system in place to follow up patients who had attended accident and emergency (A&E) where they may have been experiencing poor mental health. Staff had received training on how to care for people with mental health needs and dementia.

Updated 24 December 2015

The practice is rated good for the care of people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable. The practice held a register of patients living in vulnerable circumstances including those with a learning disability. The practice offered longer appointments for patients whose first language is not English. It had carried out annual health checks and longer appointments were available for people with a learning disability. It had carried out annual health checks for people with a learning disability and 100% of these patients had received a follow-up.

The practice 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 had been trained 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.