Archived: The Birches Medical Centre

Updated 31 July 2017

The Birches Medical Centre is located in Polefield Road, Prestwich Manchester. There is local parking and public transport links close to the practice. The Birches Medical Centre is situated within the geographical area of Bury Clinical Commissioning Group.

There are three GPs working at the practice. Two are partners, one male and one female and one is a salaried GP who is female. The GPs work between three and six sessions per week. There are three female practice nurses and a male advanced nurse practitioner. All of these staff work part time. There is also a part time female health care worker. The practice is supported by a practice manager and a team of reception and administration staff.

The practice is open between 8 am and 6.30 pm Monday to Friday (except bank holidays). Appointments are between 8.00 am and 12.30 pm and 1.30 pm and 5.45 pm. Telephone appointments are available daily from 8 am to 6.30 pm. Patients requiring a GP outside of normal working hours are directed to use the Bury and Rochdale Doctors On Call (BARDOC) using the surgery number.

The practice has a General Medical Services (GMS) contract with Bury CCG. The GMS contract is the contract between general practices and NHS England for delivering primary care services to local communities.

The Birches Medical Centre is responsible for providing care to 4339 patients.

Updated 31 July 2017

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Birches Medical Centre on 11 April 2016. The overall rating for the practice was good. The full comprehensive report on the 11 April 2017 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Birches Medical Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

At our previous inspection on 11 April 2016, we rated the practice as requires improvement for providing safe services as the arrangements in place for managing the following issues were not adequate:

• staff did not work within the scope of their practice and flu vaccinations were given without the authority of a GP.

In addition we identified the following issues the service should improve:

• A record should be kept of the investigation and review of all significant events.

• A system of continuous clinical audit should be established to test the effectiveness of the service and to monitor quality and make improvements.

• A record should be kept of meetings held for the purpose of monitoring issues discussed.

• The temperature of the vaccine fridges should be checked daily and medicine stock levels should be audited.

• A record should be kept of the work carried out to improve infection control so that it can be monitored, and a review date logged for the next infection control audit.

In line with agreed timescales the practice supplied documentary evidence to demonstrate how they had improved their practices in relation to the overview of safety systems and processes since the last inspection.

This inspection was an announced focussed inspection carried out on 10 July 2017 to confirm that the practice had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breaches in regulation that we identified in our previous inspection on 11 April 2017.

At this inspection we found that sufficient improvement had been achieved to update the rating for provision of safe services to good. The practice had addressed the breaches of regulation and was now compliant with all regulations. This report covers our findings in relation to those improvements.

Our key findings were as follows:

• New systems were in place for recording and monitoring significant events and clinical audits.

• There was a system for recording staff discussions and meetings.

• Additional staff training had been provided.

• Records for monitoring medicine stock levels were recorded for the purpose of auditing.

• Relevant procedures were altered to support these changes to practice.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 31 July 2017

The provider had resolved the concerns for safe identified at our inspection on 11 April 2016 which applied to everyone using this practice, including this population group. The population group ratings have been updated to reflect this.

The specific findings on these groups can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Birches Medical Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Updated 31 July 2017

The provider had resolved the concerns for safe identified at our inspection on 11 April 2016 which applied to everyone using this practice, including this population group. The population group ratings have been updated to reflect this.

The specific findings on these groups can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Birches Medical Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Updated 31 July 2017

The provider had resolved the concerns for safe identified at our inspection on 11 April 2016 which applied to everyone using this practice, including this population group. The population group ratings have been updated to reflect this.

The specific findings on these groups can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Birches Medical Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Updated 31 July 2017

The provider had resolved the concerns for safe identified at our inspection on 11 April 2016 which applied to everyone using this practice, including this population group. The population group ratings have been updated to reflect this.

The specific findings on these groups can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Birches Medical Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Updated 31 July 2017

The provider had resolved the concerns for safe identified at our inspection on 11 April 2016 which applied to everyone using this practice, including this population group. The population group ratings have been updated to reflect this.

The specific findings on these groups can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Birches Medical Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Updated 31 July 2017

The provider had resolved the concerns for safe identified at our inspection on 11 April 2016 which applied to everyone using this practice, including this population group. The population group ratings have been updated to reflect this.

The specific findings on these groups can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Birches Medical Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.