Archived: Lindley Medical Practice

Updated 14 January 2016

Lindley Medical Practice is located on the ground floor of a health centre in Oldham Town Centre. There are other GP practices located in the same building. The practice is fully accessible to those with mobility difficulties. There is a car park next to the building.

GDT Healthcare is the provider. GTD Healthcare is a not-for-profit organisation that has several GP practices, out of hours services and walk in centres in the area. Most staff are salaried but the GPs are self-employed.

The provider has an Alternative Provider Medical Services (APMS) contract with NHS England. At the time of our inspection 2528 patients were registered with the GP practice. The provider also had a walk in centre at the same location.

The practice and walk in centre are open seven days a week from 8am until 8pm. Appointments with a GP at the practice are available between 8am and 5.30pm Monday to Friday and from 2pm until 8pm at weekends.

Three regular self-employed GPs work between the practice and walk in centre, two female and one male. There is also a locum GP. There is one GP on duty at any one time between the practice and walk in centre. The walk in centre is run by three advanced nurse practitioners and a clinical lead who is also an advanced nurse practitioner. There are also GPs also being on duty there between 6pm and 8pm Monday to Friday and from 8am until 2pm at the weekends. An advanced nurse practitioner is a nurse with post-graduate nursing education and advanced clinical knowledge and skills. A part time practice nurse and a part time healthcare assistant work at the GP practice.

The practice has a high level of patients who do not speak English as a first language. Face to face interpreters are booked for appointments made in advance, with telephone interpreters being available for patients at the walk in centre.

The practice has opted out of providing out-of-hours services to their patients. This service is provided by a registered out of hours provider, Go to Doc, which is part of the practice’s company.

Updated 14 January 2016

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Lindley Medical Practice on 25 November 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

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

• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
• Patients said they sometimes found it difficult to access a GP on the same day.
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• 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 and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• The practice should have contracts in place for their GPs so their areas of responsibility are clear and can be monitored.

• The practice should consider having more time for the GPs to liaise with each other to discuss aspects of the practice and patient care.

• The practice should monitor their appointment availability and waiting time for the walk in centre to check if the recent changes to arrangements had improved patient satisfaction.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 14 January 2016

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

• Nursing staff had lead roles in chronic disease management and patients at risk of hospital admission were identified as a priority.

• Longer appointments and home visits were available when needed.

• All these patients had a structured annual review to check that their health and medicines needs were being met. For those people with the most complex needs, the practice worked with relevant health and care professionals to deliver a multidisciplinary package of care.

Updated 14 January 2016

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.

• Patients 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 hours and the premises were suitable for children and babies.

• We saw good examples of joint working with midwives, health visitors and community nurses.

Updated 14 January 2016

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

• Nursing staff had lead roles in chronic disease management and patients at risk of hospital admission were identified as a priority.

• Longer appointments and home visits were available when needed.

• All these patients had a structured annual review to check that their health and medicines needs were being met. For those people with the most complex needs, the practice worked with relevant health and care professionals to deliver a multidisciplinary package of care.

Updated 14 January 2016

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 had a full range of health promotion and screening that reflects the needs for this age group.

Updated 14 January 2016

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 people experiencing poor mental health, including those with dementia.

• 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 where they may have been experiencing poor mental health.

• Staff had a good understanding of how to support people with mental health needs and dementia.

• GPs had the facility to use a booking slip to ensure continuity of care for patients.

Updated 14 January 2016

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 homeless people, travellers and those with a learning disability.

• It offered longer appointments for people with a learning disability.

• 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.