• Doctor
  • GP practice

Temple Sowerby Medical Practice

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Linden Park, Temple Sowerby, Penrith, Cumbria, CA10 1RW (017683) 61232

Provided and run by:
Temple Sowerby Medical Practice

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 27 September 2019

Temple Sowerby Medical Practice is located in the village of Temple Sowerby, to the east of Penrith in the Eden Valley. The practice provides care and treatment to 4,665 patients from Temple Sowerby, Penrith, Appleby and the surrounding areas. It is part of the NHS North Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and operates on a General Medical Services (GMS) contract. The practice is a rural dispensing practice and can dispense medication to all of their patients, with the exception of those residing in Penrith and Appleby.

The practice provides services from the following address, which we visited during this inspection:

  • Temple Sowerby Medical Practice, Linden Park, Temple Sowerby, Penrith, Cumbria, CA10 1RW

The practice is located in a modern purpose built two storey building which was erected in 2004. All reception and consultation rooms are fully accessible. If patients with mobility problems need to access the upper floor of the building a lift is in operation. On-site parking is available, which includes disabled parking bays.

The practice is open between 8.30am to 1.00pm and 1.30pm to 6.30pm on a Monday to Friday. Appointments with a GP are available form 8.30am to 12 midday and from 2pm to 6.30pm. Nurse appointments are available from 9am to 12 midday and from 2pm to 6.30pm. The service for patients requiring urgent medical attention out-of-hours is provided by the NHS 111 service and Cumbria Health on Call Limited (ChoC).

Temple Sowerby Medical Practice offers a range of services and clinic appointments including chronic disease management clinics, new patient health checks, children’s clinics, immunisations, cervical screening, travel advice, contraception and minor surgery. The practice consists of:

  • Two GP partners (both female)
  • One salaried GP (female) and two retainer GPs (male)
  • Two advanced nurse practitioners
  • A practice nurse
  • Two healthcare assistants
  • A phlebotomist
  • Nine non-clinical staff including a practice manager and reception/administration/secretarial staff
  • Four dispensing team staff consisting of a dispensing manager, two dispensers and a dispensing assistant.

The area in which the practice is located is in the eighth (out of ten) most deprived decile. In general people living in more deprived areas tend to have greater need for health services.

The practice’s age distribution profile showed higher percentages of patients aged over 45 than the national average. Average life expectancy for the male practice population was 79 (national average 79) and for the female population 82 (national average 83).

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 27 September 2019

We decided to undertake an inspection of this service following our annual review of the information available to us. This inspection looked at the following key questions: is the practice effective; is it responsive; is it well-led?

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:

  • Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
  • The practice organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
  • The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.

We saw an area of outstanding practice:

  • The leadership drove continuous improvement and safe innovation was celebrated. There was a clear and proactive approach to seeking out and embedding new ways of providing care and treatment, and on the day of inspection we saw multiple examples of improvements which benefitted patients. Many of these had come from patient or staff feedback. For example, the practice had increased their prevelance rates, reduced antibiotic prescribing, changed their governance arrangements to make staff roles clearer, and improved access to appointments.

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

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP