Background to this inspection
Updated
28 February 2019
Severn Valley Medical Practice is located on the southern side of the River Severn in Worcester. The practice has a branch surgery at Warndon known as Lyppard Grange Medical Centre. As part of our inspection we visited both sites. The practice primarily covers an area with good levels of employment. The practice has good transport links and there is a pharmacy and services for secondary care located on-site.
The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the Regulated Activities; diagnostic and screening procedures, maternity and midwifery services and treatment of disease, disorder or injury and surgical procedures.
Severn Valley Medical Practice is situated within the South Worcestershire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and provides services to 20,226 patients under the terms of a personal medical services (PMS) contract. This is a contract between general practices and NHS England for delivering services to the local community.
Parking is available on-site and a chaperone service is available for patients who request the service. This is advertised throughout the practice.
The practice has four partners (two male and two female) and ten salaried GPs (a mixture of male and female), a pharmacist, five advanced nurse practitioner, eight practice nurses, three health care assistants and a phlebotomist. The clinical team is supported by a practice manager, a deputy practice manager, two office managers and a team of administrative and reception staff.
There are higher than average number of patients between the ages of 15-44. The National General Practice Profile states that 95% of the practice population is from a white background with a further 4% of the population originating from black, Asian, mixed or other non-white ethnic groups. Information published by Public Health England, rates the level of deprivation within the practice population group as eighth, on a scale of one to ten. Level one represents the highest levels of deprivation and level ten the lowest.
The practice is open between 7.30am and 7pm Monday to Friday with monthly Saturday appointments. Home visits are available for patients who are too ill to attend the practice for appointments.
The practice does not provide out of hours services to their own patients. When the practice is closed patients are directed to contact Care UK via NHS 111.
The practice website can be viewed at: www.severnvalleymedicalpractice.co.uk
Updated
28 February 2019
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Severn Valley Medical Practice on 17 January 2019 as part of our inspection programme.
At the last inspection in April 2015 we rated the practice as good overall.
We based our judgement of the quality of care at this service on a combination of:
- what we found when we inspected
- information from our ongoing monitoring of data about services and
- information from the provider, patients, the public and other organisations.
We have rated this practice as good overall and good for all population groups.
We found that:
- There were clearly defined and embedded systems, processes and practices in place to keep people safe and safeguarded from abuse.
- The practice had developed a template for all high-risk medicines to ensure appropriate monitoring and safe prescribing. In addition, a Direct Oral Anti-Coagulant (DOAC) template has been introduced outlining advice and safety aspects for prescribing for clinical staff. This included a calculation for accurate and correct dosage in renal impairment.
- The practice worked proactively with other organisations to ensure patients had access to a range of services to support their health and wellbeing.
- Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
- Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
- Services were tailored to meet the needs of individual patients. They were delivered in a flexible way that ensured choice and continuity of care.
- The practice had employed a patient liaison worker (PALS) who worked across sites to engage with patients and signpost them to support services. Stress management, holistic therapies and carers support were available for patients to access in the practice.
- There were innovative approaches to providing integrated person-centred care.
- The practice had identified areas where there were gaps in provision locally and had taken steps to address them.
Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:
- Complete a risk assessment for the clinical handwash sinks in line with best practice.
- Review how to improve the security of waste storage bins outside of the practice.
- Develop an effective system to record, monitor and track the immunisation status of staff members in line with Public Health England (PHE) guidance.
- Embed a formal process to ensure that leaders have oversight to support good governance and management.
Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.
Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGPChief Inspector of General Practice