Background to this inspection
Updated
11 March 2024
Manor Farm Medical Centre is located in Swaffham, Norfolk at:
Mantage Street
Swaffham
Norfolk
PE37 7QN
The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the Regulated Activities; diagnostic and screening procedures, maternity and midwifery services and treatment of disease, disorder or injury and surgical procedures .
The practice is situated within the South Norfolk (ICS) and delivers General Medical Services (GMS) to a patient population of about 7200. This is part of a contract held with NHS England.
The practice is part of a wider network of GP practices in Swaffham and Downham primary care network.
Information published by Office for Health Improvement and Disparities shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the fifth lowest decile (5 of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice population is relative to others.
According to the latest available data, the ethnic makeup of the practice area is 0.8% Asian, 97.4% White, 0.3% Black, 1% Mixed, and 0.4% Other.
The age distribution of the practice population closely mirrors the local and national averages. There are more elderly patients registered at the practice than young or working age patients.
There is a team of 3 GP Partners and 1 salaried GP, 1 GP registrar, 2 locum GPs, and 1 GP associate. The GPs are supported by a team of pharmacists, 3 practice nurses, and 1 nurse practitioner who provide nurse-led clinics for long-term conditions at the practice. There are 4 healthcare assistants and a primary care team of supporting staff, including, physiotherapists, social prescribers, paramedics, occupational therapists, mental health practitioners, and a community matron. The clinical team is supported at the practice by a team of reception/administration staff. There are 2 practice managers and a business manager based at the main location to provide managerial oversight. The provider was a training practice and had medical students undertake placements there. For housebound patients, a weekly medicines home delivery service was offered to patients.
The practice is open between 8 am to 6.30 pm Monday to Friday. The practice offers a range of appointment types including book-on-the-day, telephone consultations and advance appointments. Swaffham and Downham primary care network offered extended appointments a Monday to Friday between the hours of 6.30 pm and 8 pm. Additional weekend appointments were also available on Saturdays between 9 am and 6 pm.
When the practice was closed, patients were asked to contact NHS 111.
Updated
11 March 2024
We carried out a targeted assessment of Manor Farm Medical Centre on 22 January 2024 without a site visit. Overall, the practice is rated as good. We rated the key question of responsive as requires improvement.
Safe –good – carried forward from previous inspection
Effective – good – carried forward from previous inspection
Caring – good – carried forward from previous inspection
Responsive – requires improvement
Well led – good – carried forward from previous inspection
Following our previous inspection in November 2022, the practice was rated good for safe, effective, good and well led and requires improvement for responsive. At this inspection, we rated the practice requires improvement for providing responsive services.
The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Manor Farm Medical Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk
Why we carried out this inspection
We carried out this assessment as part of our work to understand how practices are working to try to meet demand for access and to better understand the experiences of people who use services and providers.
How we carried out the review
This assessment was carried out remotely. It did not include a site visit.
The process included:
- Conducting an interview with the provider and members of staff using video conferencing.
- Reviewing patient feedback from a range of sources
- Requesting evidence from the provider.
- Reviewing data we hold about the service
- Seeking information/feedback from relevant stakeholders
Our findings
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 found that:
- The practice had increased patient satisfaction for telephone access in the national GP patient survey since the 2023 national GP patient survey results.
- The provider responded to patient feedback about telephone answering with the introduction of a new phone system. This had reduced telephony waiting times.
- Services were tailored to meet the needs of individual people and were delivered in a way to ensure continuity of care.
- The provider had implemented a sit and wait service twice daily that patients uptake had increased by over 50%.
- We found that patients individual needs and preferences were central to the delivery of services.
- Patients could not always access care and treatment in a timely way and appointments were accessible in a way that suited a patient’s individual need.
- There was a dedicated team for learning disability patients for health reviews and patient consultations available.
Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.
Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA
Chief Inspector of Health Care