Archived: Whitley Road Medical Centre

This service is rated as Good overall.

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? – Outstanding

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Whitley Road Medical Centre on 11 December 2019. The inspection was carried out as part of or inspection programme.

The service is an extended hours GP service and is part of a network of alliance locations which offer extended GP cover across North Manchester.

At this inspection we found:

• There was an open culture in which all safety concerns raised by staff and people who used the service were highly valued and integrated into learning with improvements made.
• The service routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• There was a clear vision which had quality and safety as its top priority. The strategy to deliver this vision had been produced with stakeholders and staff, which was regularly reviewed and discussed
• There were clearly defined and bespoke embedded systems, processes and practices in place to keep staff and patients safe.
• The service had strong and visible clinical and managerial leadership and governance arrangements.
• Patients were able to access care and treatment from the service within an appropriate timescale for their needs.
• A clear system was in place for patients accessing appointments, with a choice to be added to a cancellation waiting list.
• Staff involved and treated people with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect

We saw several outstanding areas

• On the 22nd May 2017 Manchester Arena was bombed. The Federation provided Managerial and GP support and were the first responders on site at the “Help Centre” set up at the Etihad Football Stadium in the hours directly following the bombing. Clinical and non-clinical staff were dealing with and assisting the injured, traumatised and bereaved, whilst providing medical consultations, examination and emergency medication. The NHGPPO continued to provide additional appointments in all five Hubs to help alleviate the pressure on the hospitals for the duration of that week. As a result of this, the clinical chair of the NHGPPO was invited to the Town Hall to meet Prince Charles on behalf of the Federation and all Directors to receive thank you letters.
• Within weeks of the Manchester Bombing, a major fire at a Cash and Carry Wholesalers saw residents displaced from their homes for many hours, whilst the fire was brought under control. NHGPPO Ltd liaised with local pharmacies to support patients who needed access to essential medications. Additional GP appointments were provided at the Local Hub site and on call arrangements were increased.

• The Federation, Five Oaks Medical Practice, Manchester Active and a Premier league football club have worked together to improve the uptake of preventative health checks, whilst trying to promote activity to improve people’s wellbeing. Using the world class facilities and treatment room at the football stadium (as an incentive) the Federation staff and access to technology, all local North Manchester residents were invited for a free health check. Once attended the patient was followed up with an activity programme for those with a higher than average Qrisk (cardiovascular risk) and provided with a free Fitbit and weekly report. The programme has been running since August 2019 and at the time of the inspection had seen over 100 patients attend for a health check.