Background to this inspection
Updated
22 March 2018
Care Quality Commission registered Denton Park Medical Group to provide primary care services.
The practice provides services to approximately 7,300 patients from one location, which we visited as part of this inspection:
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Denton Park Medical Group, West Denton Way, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE5 2QW.
Denton Park Medical Group is a medium sized practice providing care and treatment to patients of all ages, based on a General Medical Services (GMS) contract agreement for general practice. The practice is part of the NHS Newcastle Gateshead clinical commissioning group (CCG).
The practice has three GP partners (two male and one female). The practice is in the process of making an application to update the partners registered. They employ a salaried GP (female), a practice manager, a nurse practitioner (female), two nurses (female), a health care assistant and staff who undertake reception and administrative duties.
NHS 111 service and Vocare Limited (known locally as Northern Doctors Urgent Care) provide the service for patients requiring urgent medical care out of hours.
Information from Public Health England placed the area in which the practice is located in the third most deprived decile. In general, people living in more deprived areas tend to have a greater need for health services. Average male life expectancy at the practice is 79 years, compared to the national average of 79.2 years. Average female life expectancy at the practice is 82.4 years, compared to the national average of 83.2 years.
96.6% of the practice population were white, 0.7% were mixed race, 1.8% were Asian, 0.5% were black and 0.4% were other races.
The practice had displayed their CQC ratings from the December 2014 inspection, in the practice reception area and on their website, in line with legal requirements.
Updated
22 March 2018
Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice
This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection December 2014 – Good)
The key questions are rated as:
Are services safe? – Good
Are services effective? – Good
Are services caring? – Good
Are services responsive? – Outstanding
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 – Outstanding
People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia) - Good
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Denton Park Medical Group on 22 January 2018. This was as part of our ongoing 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.
- The practice understood the needs of its population and tailored services in response to those needs. They had improved their approach to palliative care to ensure patients were supported in the way they preferred towards the end of their life. They had arranged influenza vaccination sessions during school holidays to make it easier for parents to attend with their children. Although the practice already had higher cervical screening rates than local and national averages, they had taken action to improve this further by promoting uptake on their website and highlighting reminder invites for patients on pink paper.
- There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.
We saw an area of outstanding practice:
- The practice had shown a sustained and continuous improvement in the support provided to patients reaching the end of their life. The practice had improved their identification of palliative care patients and was more inclusive in their approach. They had improved the approach to person-centred care planning and provision of accessible information for patients and their carers. They supported patients to die in their location of choice, wherever possible.
Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)
Chief Inspector of General Practice
People with long term conditions
Updated
19 February 2015
The practice is rated as good for the care of people with long-term conditions.
The practice had systems to ensure care was tailored to individual needs and circumstances. We spoke with GPs and nurses who told us care reviews for patients with long term conditions took place at six monthly or yearly intervals. These appointments included a review of the effectiveness of their medicines, as well as patients’ general health and wellbeing. The practice ensured timely follow up of patients with long term conditions by adding them to the practice registers. Patients were then recalled as appropriate, in line with agreed recall intervals.
Families, children and young people
Updated
19 February 2015
The practice is rated as good for the care of families, children and young people.
We saw the practice had processes in place for the regular assessment of children’s development. This included the early identification of problems and the timely follow up of these. Systems were in place for identifying and following-up children who were considered to be at-risk of harm or neglect. For example, the needs of all at-risk children were regularly reviewed at practice multidisciplinary meetings involving child care professionals such as school nurses and health visitors.
The practice advertised services and activities available locally to families. Lifestyle advice for pregnant women about healthy living, including smoking cessation and alcohol consumption was given by the GPs and midwives.
Appointments were available outside of school hours and the premises were suitable for children and babies. Arrangements had been made for new babies to receive the immunisations they needed.
Updated
19 February 2015
The practice is rated as good for the care of older people.
Nationally reported data showed the practice had good outcomes for conditions commonly found amongst older people. The practice offered personalised care to meet the needs of the older people in its population. The practice had written to patients over the age of 75 years to inform them who their named GP was. The practice was responsive to the needs of older people, including offering home visits.
Working age people (including those recently retired and students)
Updated
19 February 2015
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 which reflected the needs for this age group. We saw health promotion material was made easily accessible through the practice’s website. This included signposting and links to other websites including those dedicated to weight loss, sexual health and smoking cessation.
People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia)
Updated
19 February 2015
The practice is rated as good for the population group of people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia). Patients experiencing poor mental health had received an annual physical health check. The practice worked closely with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of people experiencing poor mental health including those with dementia. The practice had care planning in place for patients with dementia.
The practice had sign-posted patients experiencing poor mental health to various support groups and third sector organisations. Information and leaflets about services were made available to patients within the practice.
People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable
Updated
19 February 2015
The practice is rated as outstanding for the care of people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable.
Systems were in place in place to identify patients, families and children who were at risk or vulnerable. The practice held a register of patients living in vulnerable circumstances including those with learning disabilities. These patients were offered regular reviews. One of the administration team members took on the role of administering the system and through personal contact built up a rapport with patients and their carers. As a result of this work, 45 out of 46 patients received their annual medical check during the period April 2013 to March 2014.
The practice worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of vulnerable people. The practice had sign-posted vulnerable patients to various support groups and third sector 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 and out of hours.