Ailsa Craig Medical Centre

Updated 28 November 2017

Ailsa Craig Medical Centre is situated in Central Manchester and provides services to over 10,500 patients in Ardwick and Longsight under a Primary Medical Services contract. It is a deprived area, information published by Public Health England rates the level of deprivation within the practice population group as level one on a scale of one to 10. Level one represents the highest levels of deprivation and level 10 the lowest. The practice population are 41% Asian and 10% black people. The age mix of the local community is 25% under 18 years (CCG average 22% and England average 21%) with only 3% over 75 years (CCG average 3.5% and England average 8%). The practice have catered and adjusted the services they offer to meet the needs of their diverse population.

The building is a large semi-detached house, which has been converted into a Doctors’ surgery. Inside, GP consulting rooms, nurse treatment rooms and staff offices are spread over four floors. There is no lift and the stairs to consulting rooms on the middle floors are steep, however the practice have adapted the premises so that older people with frailty conditions or people with disabilities can be seen in the ground floor consulting rooms.

There are three GP partners (one male and two female) and two salaried GPs (one male and one female). There are two full time practice nurses. There is also a full time health care assistant and extra cover provided when required, by a member of administration who has been trained in phlebotomy. They are a training practice, accredited by the Deanery and are currently training one GP registrar.

On Monday and Friday the practice is open from 7.30am to 6.30pm. On the other days it is open from 8am to 6.30pm. When the surgery is closed patients can be seen at a nearby GP co-operative from 6.30pm until 8.30pm weekdays and over the weekend. Out of hours cover is provided by the NHS 111 service and GoToDoc.

Updated 28 November 2017

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Ailsa Craig Medical Centre on 13 August 2015. The overall rating for the practice was good, with a requires improvement rating for the key question of safe and we issued a requirement notice for breaches of Regulation 17 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 (Good governance). The full comprehensive report on the August 2015 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Ailsa Craig Medical Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

This inspection was a desk-based review carried out on 1 November 2017 to confirm that the practice had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breach identified in the requirement notice.

Overall the practice is now rated as good, with the previous rating of requires improvement for the key question of safe updated to a rating of good.

Our key findings were as follows:

• Staff had annual appraisals to support them in performing their duties.

• Staff used a clear reporting process for serious events and complaints and had the opportunity to learn from these events.

• An improved system was in use to manage infection prevention and control and to manage medicines in order to keep patients safe.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 1 October 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of people with long-term conditions. They had identified that more nursing time was required and were providing training to enable lead roles in chronic disease management. Patients at risk of hospital admission were identified as a priority. Longer appointments and home visits were available when needed. All patients with long term conditions had a named GP and reviews were offered to check that their health and medication needs were being met. For those people with the most complex needs, the named GP worked with relevant health and care professionals to deliver a multidisciplinary package of care.

Updated 1 October 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of families, children and young people. There were systems in place to identify and follow up children living in disadvantaged circumstances and who were at risk, for example, children and young people who had a high number of A&E attendances. Immunisation rates were comparable for all standard childhood immunisations. Staff told us that children and young people were treated in an age-appropriate way and were recognised as individuals, and we saw evidence to confirm this. Appointments were available outside of school times and a dedicated, open access, baby clinic was available once a week.

Updated 1 October 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of older people. Nationally reported data showed that outcomes for patients were good for conditions commonly found in older people. The practice offered proactive, personalised care to meet the needs of the older people in its population and had a range of enhanced services, for example, in dementia and end of life care. It was responsive to the needs of older people, and offered home visits and rapid access appointments for those with enhanced needs.

Updated 1 October 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of working-age people (including those recently retired and students). The needs of the working age population, those recently retired and students had been identified and the practice had adjusted the services it offered to ensure these were accessible, flexible and offered continuity of care. 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.

Updated 1 October 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of people experiencing poor mental health including people with dementia and they were aware of an ageing population with increased mental health needs. They took part in a directed enhanced service to facilitate timely diagnosis and support people with dementia. We noted 83% of patients diagnosed with dementia had received a face to face review in the preceding twelve months which was equal to the national average.

The practice had told patients experiencing poor mental health about how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations. It had a system in place to follow up patients who had attended accident and emergency (A&E) where they may have been experiencing poor mental health. Staff had received training on how to care for people with mental health needs and dementia.

Updated 1 October 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable. They were aware of patients living in vulnerable circumstances including those with a learning disability, victims of domestic violence, frailty and/or safeguarding issues. The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of vulnerable people. It had told vulnerable patients about how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations. Staff knew how to recognise signs of abuse in vulnerable adults and children. Staff were aware of their responsibilities regarding information sharing, documentation of safeguarding concerns and how to contact relevant agencies in normal working hours and out of hours. One of the GPs had attended training on female genital mutilation to better understand this and support patients who may have suffered.