• Doctor
  • GP practice

The Whickham Practice

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Whickham Cottage Medical Practice, Rectory Lane, Whickham, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE16 4PD (0191) 488 5555

Provided and run by:
The Whickham Practice

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 6 July 2018

The Whickham Practice provides care and treatment to approximately 16,078 patients of all ages from Whickham, Swalwell and the surrounding areas. The practice is part of NHS Newcastle Gateshead Clinical Commissioning Group and operates on a General Medical Services (GMS) contract.

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

  • Whickham Cottage Medical Practice, Rectory Lane, Whickham, Newcastle Upon Tyne,

NE16 4PD

The surgery is located in a part newly built and part Grade 2 listed building. Health visitors, a community podiatrist and children’s speech and language services are based in the same building. There is good access and facilities for patients with disabilities and a lift is available for patients who need to visit the first floor. An on-site car park is available which includes dedicated disabled car parking spaces.

Patients can book appointments in person, on-line or by telephone. Opening hours are as follows:

  • Monday and Friday – 8am to 6.30pm
  • Tuesday to Thursday – 8am to 7.30pm

Patients registered with the service are also able to access pre bookable GP appointments from 8am to 8pm on a weekday and from 9am to 2pm on a weekend at a nearby extended access facility.

The practice is a teaching and training practice and involved in teaching qualified doctors interested in a career in General Practice and the training of medical students.

The service for patients requiring urgent medical attention out of hours is provided by the NHS 111 service and GatDoc.

The practice has:

  • Seven GP partners (three female and four male)
  • Three salaried GPs (two female and one male)
  • One advanced nurse practitioner (female)
  • Five practice nurses (female)
  • Four healthcare assistants/phlebotomists (female)
  • 23 non-clinical staff members including a practice manager, assistant practice manager, secretarial manager, secretaries, administrators, receptionists and prescribing support assistants.

The average life expectancy for the male practice population is 80 (CCG average 77 and national average 79) and for the female population 83 (CCG average 82 and national average 83). 27% of the practices’ patient population are in the over 65 age group.

At 57%, the percentage of the practice population reported as having a long standing health condition was comparable with the CCG and national averages of 54%. Generally a higher percentage of patients with a long standing health condition can lead to an increased demand for GP services.

At 55% the percentage of the practice population recorded as being in paid work or full time education was lower than the CCG average of 61% and national average of 62%. The practice area is in the eighth most deprived decile. Deprivation levels affecting children and adults were lower than local and national averages.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 6 July 2018

This practice is rated as Good overall. Previous inspection January 2015 - Good

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Outstanding

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? - Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Whickham Practice on 8 May 2018 as part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

  • The practice had systems to keep patients safe and safeguarded from abuse.
  • 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 they provided. They ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
  • Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
  • The practice organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. They took account of patient needs and preferences.
  • Patients were able to access care and treatment from the practice within an acceptable timescale for their needs.
  • There was a focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation. The practice proactively used performance information to drive improvement.

We saw areas of outstanding practice:

  • The practice was proactive in their support and care of older patients who made up a large proportion of their patient population. This included identifying and supporting frail patients, effective arrangements for social prescribing, good management of long term conditions and comprehensive care planning. As a result they were able to demonstrate a reduction in non-elective admissions to hospital for this group of patients.
  • For 2015/16 and 2016/17 (the latest published data available) the practice had attained 100% in the Quality Outcomes Framework (QOF) scheme for the care and treatment of patients with long term conditions. They had developed a personalised approach to ensure patients were involved in care planning activity.

However, there are areas where the provider should improve:

  • The provider should retain a centralised record of clinicians safeguarding training so that there is managerial oversight of when updates are due.
  • Sustain recent improvement to monitor and record action taken when the temperatures of fridges used to store medicines fall outside of the permitted range.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGPChief Inspector of General Practice