Sefton Park Medical Centre

Updated 7 July 2017

Dr M Flynn's Practice is registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide primary care services. It provides GP services for approximately 8,500 patients in Liverpool. The practice serves a diverse ethnic population. The practice is managed by three GP partners (male) and has two salaried GPs (one male, one female). There is a nurse practitioner, an associate practitioner and a practice nurse. There are administration and reception staff and a practice manager. The practice holds a General Medical Services (GMS) contract with NHS England and is part of Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

The practice is open during the week; between 8am and 6.30pm. Patients can book appointments in person, online or via the telephone. The practice provides telephone consultations, pre bookable consultations, urgent consultations and home visits. Patients can access the Out-of-Hours GP service by calling NHS 111.

Updated 7 July 2017

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr M Flynn's Practice (also known as Sefton Park Medical Centre) on 9 April 2015 .The overall rating for the practice was good but required improvement for providing safe services. The full comprehensive report on the 9 April 2015 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Dr M Flynn's Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

This inspection was an announced follow up comprehensive inspection carried out on 26 June 2017 to confirm that the practice had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breaches in regulations that we identified in our previous inspection on 9 April 2015. This report includes our findings in relation to those requirements.

Overall the practice is rated as good and now good for providing safe services.

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

• The provider had addressed the issues identified at the last inspection. Improvements included having the necessary employee checks for recruitment, a Legionella risk assessment for the premises, and a system for sharing learning with staff when any incidents occurred.
• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and a system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
• Staff were aware of current evidence based guidance. Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills and knowledge to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Information from Care Quality Commission (CQC) comment cards and the national GP patient survey data indicated that patients were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• Information about services and how to complain was available.
• Urgent appointments were available the same day.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
• The provider was aware of the requirements of the duty of candour.
• Staff had worked at the practice for many years and worked well together as a team.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Periodically review incidents and complaints to identify any trends to reduce the risk of reoccurrence.
• Implement a plan of at least two cycle clinical audits to monitor quality outcomes.
• Update the monitoring system for emergency medical equipment expiry dates.
• Have a protocol in place for managing uncollected prescriptions.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 7 July 2017

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

• The practice followed up on patients with long-term conditions discharged from hospital and ensured that their care plans were updated to reflect any additional needs.
• All these patients had a named GP and there was a system to recall patients for a structured annual review to check their health and medication needs were being met.
• For those patients with the most complex needs, the named GP worked with relevant health and care professionals to deliver a multidisciplinary package of care. 

Updated 7 July 2017

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

• The practice worked with midwives and health visitors to support this population group. For example, in the provision of ante-natal, post-natal and child health surveillance clinics and provided immunisations.
• The practice had emergency processes for acutely ill children and young people.

Updated 7 July 2017

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

• The practice was responsive to the needs of older patients, and offered home visits and urgent appointments for those with enhanced needs.
• The practice identified at an early stage older patients who may need palliative care as they were approaching the end of life. It involved older patients in planning and making decisions about their care, including their end of life care.
• The practice followed up on older patients discharged from hospital and ensured that their care plans were updated to reflect any extra needs.
• The practice employed a clinician on a sessional basis to provide support to frail and housebound patients to ensure any health or social concerns were identified quickly and appropriate care and support was provided.

Updated 7 July 2017

The practice is rated as good for the care of working age people (including those recently retired and students).

• The practice was proactive in offering online services as well as a full range of health promotion and screening that reflected the needs for this age group.
• The practice offered pre-bookable appointments in advance and offered early morning and evening appointments.

Updated 7 July 2017

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

• The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of patients experiencing poor mental health, including those living with dementia.
• The practice worked closely with the mental health services in Liverpool. The practice was able to signpost patients experiencing poor mental health to access various support groups and voluntary organisations.
• The practice had access to a visiting psychiatrist.

Updated 7 July 2017

The practice is rated as 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 with a learning disability or undertook visits.
• The practice regularly worked with other health care professionals in the case management of vulnerable patients.
• The practice had information available for vulnerable patients about how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations.