Archived: The Medical Centre

Updated 2 January 2018

The main GP practice is situated in Camelford, Cornwall. The practice provides a general medical service to 3,300 patients of a diverse age group. The practice is a small principal GP practice with branch surgeries in Delabole and St Breward. The practices population is in the fifth decile for deprivation, which is on a scale of one to ten. The lower the decile the more deprived an area is compared to the national average. The practice ethnic profile is predominantly White British. The average male life expectancy for the practice area is 81 years which is higher than the national average of 79 years; female life expectancy is 86 years which is above the national average of 83 years.

The team consists of one principal male GP supported by a female salaried GP. The practice team consists of a practice manager, three part time nurses, a phlebotomist, four receptionists, a secretary and a dispenser.

Patients using the practice also have access to community nurses, speech therapists, palliative care nurses, mental health nurses and health visitors who visit the practice.

The practice is open between 8.30am and 6pm Monday to Friday. Phone calls between 1pm and 2pm are answered by the Kernow message handling service and urgent calls are passed to the GP. Appointments times vary each day and are available at different times at each branch but are generally from 9am until 11.20am and from 4pm to 6pm. In addition to pre-bookable appointments that can be booked up to thirteen weeks in advance, urgent same day appointments are also available for people that needed them. Outside of these times patients are directed to contact the Urgent Care service by using the NHS 111 number.

The practice also has a dispensary at the St Breward branch.

Camelford Medical Centre provides regulated activities from the main site at the Camelford Medical Centre, Churchfield Camelford PL32 9YT and the two branch sites at

St Breward, Medical Centre, Brookside, St Breward, PL30 4LNT and

Delabole Medical Centre, 1a Pengelly, Delabole, PL33 9AN.

We did not visit the St Breward Medical Centre on this inspection.

Updated 2 January 2018

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

This practice is rated as Good overall. (The practice was previous inspected on 24 September 2015. At this time it was rated– Good)

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? - Good

As part of our inspection process, we also look at the quality of care for specific population groups. The population groups are rated as:

Older People – Good

People with long-term conditions – Good

Families, children and young people – Good

Working age people (including those recently retired and students – Good

People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable – Good

People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia) - Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Medical Centre, Camelford on 18 December 2017 as part of our inspection programme.

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.
• 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.
• 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:

• The provider should explore ways of identifying carers.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 11 February 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 named GP and a structured annual review to check their health and medicines needs were being met. For those patients with the most complex needs, the named GP worked with relevant health and care professionals to deliver a multidisciplinary package of care.

Updated 11 February 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. Immunisation rates were relatively high for all standard childhood immunisations.

• 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.

• The practice was accredited with EEFO status. EEFO is a word that has been designed by young people, to be owned by young people. EEFO works with other community services to make sure they were young people friendly. Once a service had been EEFO approved it meant that service had met the quality standards. For example, confidentiality and consent, easy to access services, welcoming environment and staff trained on the issues young people face to face.

• The practice’s uptake for the cervical screening programme was 73.3%, which was comparable to the CCG average of 76.4% and the national average of 74.3%.

• Appointments were available outside of school hours and the premises were suitable for children and babies.

• We saw positive examples of joint working with midwives, health visitors and school nurses.

Updated 11 February 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of older people.

• The practice offered proactive, personalised care to meet the needs of the older people in its population.

• The practice was responsive to the needs of older people, and offered home visits and urgent appointments for those with enhanced needs.

• There was a list for patients who were suffering with increasing frailty. These patients were given a separate telephone number and all calls were treated as urgent.

• Longer appointments with the GP and practice nurse were available for older people when needed.

• The practice had level access throughout. There were wheelchairs for patients to use if required.

Updated 11 February 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 was proactive in offering online services as well as a full range of health promotion and screening that reflects the needs for this age group.

• Travel advice and vaccinations were available.

Updated 11 February 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 carried out advance care planning for patients with dementia.

• The practice had told patients experiencing poor mental health about how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations.

• The practice had reviewed 100% percentage of patients with a diagnosis of depression. This was higher than the CCG average of 87.3% national average of 84.5%.

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

• There was a counselling service available to patients and a self-referral service for those patients suffering with anxiety and depression.

Updated 11 February 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.

• The practice offered longer appointments for patients with a learning disability.

• The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of vulnerable people.

• The practice informed 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.

• The practice is signed up to the Food Bank service to help patients who are in desperate need