Background to this inspection
Updated
26 November 2018
The Family Practice is a registered location under the single handed provider Dr Issak Bhojani and is situated along with a number of other GP practices and healthcare providers in a large purpose built health centre close to the centre of Blackburn (Barbara Castle Way Health Centre, Simmons Street, Blackburn, BB2 1AX). The provider is registered to provide the regulated activities treatment of disease, disorder or injury, surgical procedures, maternity and midwifery services, family planning and diagnostic and screening procedures from the location. Dr Bhojani also has an additional registered location in Preston.
The Family Practice delivers primary medical services to approximately 4300 patients through a general medical services (GMS) contract with NHS England, and is part of the NHS Blackburn with Darwen Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
The age distribution of the practice’s patient demographic mostly aligns with the national averages, except for a lower proportion of older people. For example, 8% of the practice population are aged over 65 years, compared to the local average of 14% and national average of 17%. The percentage of the practice’s population aged over 75 years is 3%, compared to the local average of 6% and national average of 8%. The proportion of the practice’s patients in full time education or paid work is similar to local and national averages; 60% compared to the CCG average of 57% and national average of 62%. The practice caters for a slightly lower proportion of patients with a long standing health condition (46% compared to the CCG average of 54% and national average of 54%).
Information published by Public Health England rates the level of deprivation within the practice population group as one on a scale of one to ten. Level one represents the highest levels of deprivation and level ten the lowest.
The practice is staffed by the lead GP (male), two long term, part time locum GPs (both male), a practice nurse and clinical pharmacist. Both the nurse and pharmacist have recently qualified as non-medical prescribers. The clinical staff are supported by a practice manager as well as administration and reception staff.
The practice is open from 8am until 6:30pm Monday to Friday, apart from Tuesday evenings when extended hours are offered until 8pm. Patients are also able to access additional extended hours appointments, which are offered from the practice premises by the local GP federation between 5pm and 9pm on weekday evenings, and between 8:45am and 2:15pm on weekends.
Outside normal surgery hours, patients are advised to contact the out of hour’s service, offered locally by the provider East Lancashire Medical Services.
Updated
26 November 2018
This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous rating March 2017 – Good)
The key questions at this inspection are rated as:
Are services safe? – Good
Are services effective? – Good
Are services caring? – Good
Are services responsive? – Good
Are services well-led? - Good
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Family Practice on 3 October 2018. A previous inspection in July 2016 had rated the practice as inadequate overall and placed it into special measures. When we re-inspected the practice in March 2017 we found improvements had been made and the rating was updated to good overall. This most recent inspection was carried out to ensure that the improvements implemented by the practice had been sustained. The previous reports from the July 2016 and March 2017 inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Family Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
At this inspection we found:
- The practice had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes. Where appropriate, we saw this learning was shared with external stakeholders.
- The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
- Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
- Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it. Patients recognised the improvements the practice had made around access to appointments over the previous two years.
- Staff felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
- The practice worked to maximise care delivered to vulnerable groups. For example it had established close links with the local Salvation Army and was hoping to be part of a pilot project to improve care to this patient cohort once the proposal had been ratified by the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
- There was a clear staffing structure and staff were aware of their roles and responsibilities.
- The practice was proactive in identifying and supporting carers; a member of staff took the lead on this and networked with local carer support organisations to ensure patients accessed appropriate help.
- There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.
The areas where the provider should make improvements are:
- Consider methods to raise awareness of safety alerts received and action taken as a result throughout the clinical team.
Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice
Please refer to the detailed report and the evidence tables for further information.