Background to this inspection
Updated
21 March 2019
Shap Medical Practice is registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide primary care services. It is located in the Shap area of Penrith in Cumbria.
The practice provides services to around 3,000 patients from two sites:
- Peggy Nut Croft, Shap, Penrith, Cumbria, CA10 3LW
- The Market Hall, Orton, Penrith, Cumbria, CA10 3RL
We visited both of these sites as part of the inspection. Due to the rural nature of the practice boundary the practice provides a dispensing service to its patient population from both of these practice sites. Patients at the practice can also pick up prescriptions at The Health Centre in Tebay, which is a branch of a neighbouring practice.
The practice has three GP partners (two female and one male), two practice nurses (both female), a healthcare assistant, a practice manager, a dispensary manager and eight staff who carry out reception, administrative and dispensing duties.
The practice is part of Cumbria clinical commissioning group (CCG) and is within an area of relatively low levels of deprivation. The practice population is made up of a higher than average proportion of patients over the age 65 (22.4% compared to the national average of 16.7%).
The practice is located in a purpose built two storey building. All patient facilities are on the ground floor. There is on-site parking, disabled parking, a disabled WC, wheelchair and step-free access.
Surgery opening times at Shap are between 8:30am to 6:30pm every weekday except Thursdays, when the practice is open until 1:00pm. The branch surgery at Orton is open on Tuesdays between 9:15am and 10.30am and on Thursdays between 4:00pm and 5:45pm. Patients can collect prescriptions from Tebay between 9am and 12pm on Tuesdays and 3pm and 6.30pm on Thursdays. The practice also offer extended hours with a doctor and nurse on Mondays and alternate Tuesdays between 6.30pm and 7.00pm. Patients can book appointments in person, on-line or by telephone.
The practice provides services to patients of all ages based on a General Medical Services (GMS) contract agreement for general practice.
The service for patients requiring urgent medical attention out of hours is provided by the NHS 111 service and Cumbria Health On Call (CHOC).
Updated
21 March 2019
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Shap Medical Practice on 31 January 2019 as part of our inspection programme. (Previous rating August 2015 – Good)
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 outstanding for responsive and all population groups.
We found that:
- The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
- Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
- Staff treated patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
- The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.
We rated the practice as outstanding for providing responsive services because:
- Services were tailored to meet the needs of individual patients. They were delivered in a flexible way that ensured choice and continuity of care.
- There were innovative approaches to providing integrated person-centred care.
- The practice had identified areas where there were gaps in provision locally and had taken steps to address them.
We saw some areas of outstanding practice:
- The practice had scored above local and national averages for every question in the most recent National GP Patient Survey, released in July 2018. They showed us a report which ranked the practice’s performance in the survey at 107th out of all GP practices in England. Locally they ranked in the top three for many questions, especially those related to access to appointments.
- The practice carried out a number of services above those they were commissioned to perform, in order to benefit local patients and reduce pressure on other services. These included basic life support training for patients, carrying out catheter changes for patients, and identifying and monitoring patients with coeliac disease.
Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.
Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice