Devonport Health Centre

Updated 9 October 2019

We inspected Devonport Health Centre on 19 September 2019. The practice is situated at: 53 Damerel Close, Plymouth, Devon PL1 4JZ. The practice is registered with CQC to deliver the Regulated Activities; diagnostic and screening procedures, maternity and midwifery services and treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

Devonport Health Centre is situated within the Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and provides services to 7,595 patients under the terms of a primary medical services (PMS) contract. This is a contract between general practices and NHS England for delivering services to the local community. Patients are referred to secondary services within Devon.

There are two GP partners (male) who are registered with the CQC. Three salaried GPs (male and two female) support the partnership. The nursing team comprises of three practice nurses (who are non-medical prescribers) and two health care assistants.

Information published by Public Health England rates the level of deprivation within the practice population area as one on a scale of one to ten. Level one represents the highest levels of deprivation and level ten the lowest. There is a higher proportion of young adults and children on the patient list compared with other practices in the area. Nearly half (40%) of the patient population are under 18 years.

Information about opening times is displayed at the practice and on its website. Normal opening hours are 8am to 6.30pm (with locally agreed arrangement for call diversion to Devon Drs after 6pm). Extended opening hours are available at the practice three times per week. Early morning appointments are available every Tuesday and Wednesdays from 7.30 to 8am. Evening appointments are available every Tuesday from 6.30pm to 8pm. When the practice is closed patients are directed to use the NHS 111 service which is run by Devon Doctors. Patients could also access the Minor Injuries Unit is based on the same site and is open 9am to 5.30pm seven days a week.

Devonport Health Centre is an approved teaching provider with close links to universities. It provides placements every year for medical students.

Updated 9 October 2019

We decided to undertake an inspection of this service on 19 September 2019 following our annual review of the information available to us. This inspection looked at the following key questions; was the service providing effective and well led services for the registered patient population. We decided not to inspect whether the practice was providing safe, caring or responsive services as there was no information from the annual regulatory review which indicated this was necessary.

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:

• The practice had an ethos of delivering care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
• Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
• Audit was used but needed further development to establish systematic identification of patterns and themes.
• Staff were developed and supported with a range of training in line with their role to ensure services were of high quality.
• The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.
• Governance systems were operated including quality improvement initiatives.
• The practice was engaged in local initiatives and worked effectively alongside partners in the local healthcare and social care system.

Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:

• Review governance systems to include annual systematic analysis of significant events to identify trends and take corrective action.

• Set up a system to carry out onward checks to see if the two week waits/urgent referral patients have received a timely response from the hospital.

• Continue to implement quality and outcomes framework exception reporting quality improvement actions, to ensure patients with long term conditions receive timely reviews and improved health outcomes.

Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care

Overall summary

Updated 9 October 2019

Updated 9 October 2019

Updated 9 October 2019

Updated 9 October 2019

Updated 9 October 2019

Updated 9 October 2019