Narrowcliff Surgery

Updated 17 May 2018

Narrowcliff Surgery is a GP practice which provides services under a Personal Medical Service (PMS) contract for just under 13,500 patients. The main practice is situated in the seaside resort of Newquay, Cornwall. There is an independent pharmacy on the premises.

The practice population area is in the fifth decile for deprivation. In a score of one to ten, the lower the decile the more deprived an area is. The practice distribution and life expectancy of male and female patients is equivalent to national average figures. The practice had a slightly higher than average number of patients aged over 75 and 85 years, (10% of the practice list were over the age of 75 years compared to the national average of 8% and 3% of the patient list were over the age of 85 compared with the national average of 2%). Average life expectancy for the area is similar to national figures with males living to an average age of 78 years and females living to an average of 84 years.

There is a team of nine GPs (four female and five male). Of the nine GPs eight were partners and one was salaried GPs. The whole time equivalent (WTE) of GPs was just over seven WTE.

The team also includes a practice manager, two secretaries, 12 reception staff, five healthcare assistants/phlebotomists and seven nurses.

Patients using the practice have access to community staff including community nurses and health visitors. Patients could also access counsellors, depression and anxiety services, alcohol and drug recovery workers, voluntary services and other health care professionals.

The practice is a teaching practice for student nurses, medical students and GP Registrars (doctors training to become a GP).

The GPs provide medical support to residential care homes and nursing homes in the area and provide weekly ‘ward rounds’ and annual health reviews for these patients.

The practice is registered to provide regulated activities which include:

Treatment of disease, disorder or injury, surgical procedures, family planning, maternity and midwifery services and diagnostic and screening procedures and operate from the location of:

Narrowcliff Surgery, Narrowcliff, Newquay, Cornwall. TR7 2QF

Updated 17 May 2018

This practice is rated as Good overall. (The previous inspection was in March 2015 where we rated the practice as good overall)

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

We carried out an announced comprehensive at Narrowcliff Surgery on Wednesday 11 April 2018 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.
• There had been changes and improvements in the governance processes within the nursing team and with the management of medicines requiring refrigeration since the last inspection.
• Medicines were managed well at the practice and the practice had lower than local and national prescribing rates for opioid and antibiotic prescribing and prescribing costs.
• 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 gave positive feedback about the care and treatment they received. Results from the July 2017 national GP patient survey showed the practice had performed better than CCG and national averages for all 23 questions.
• 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. Staff said the practice was a good place to work and added that the leadership team were supportive and encouraged career development and learning.
• There was evidence of systems and processes for learning, continuous improvement and innovation. The practice had taken part in many local pilots to test new methodology and software.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 17 May 2018

Updated 17 May 2018

Updated 17 May 2018

Updated 17 May 2018

Updated 17 May 2018

Updated 17 May 2018