Archived: Station Medical Group

Updated 5 March 2015

The provider is a partnership of five GPs. There are also two salaried doctors, two practice nurses and one health care assistant. The practice also has a medicines manager, two practice nurses, one healthcare assistant, a practice manager, a deputy practice manager and nine reception and administrative staff. They are supported within the practice by the health visiting team, district nurses, midwives and dieticians who were employed by the local NHS trust.

The practice has a patient population of about 9,000 patients. The practice area covers Blyth, Newsham, Seaton Sluice and parts of Bebside. There are five GP partners and two salaried GPs. There were five female GPs in the practice.

The practice, in collaboration with Newcastle University, provides support and training placements to third and fifth year medical students.   

The practice has opted out of providing out-of-hours services to their own patients. Out of hours services are provided by the NHS 111 service.

Updated 5 March 2015

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out a comprehensive inspection of Station Medical Group on 14 October 2014.

We rated the practice overall as: Good

Our key findings were as follows:

• Feedback from patients was positive, they told us staff treated them with respect and kindness.
• The patient participation group were complimentary about the practice and explained their relationship with it as constructive and collaborative.
• Staff reported feeling supported and able to voice any concerns or make suggestions for improvement.
• The practice was clean.

We saw areas of outstanding practice:

The practice had participated in a multidisciplinary initiative to successfully address the prescribing of unnecessary medicines to people in care homes.

The practice worked collaboratively with other health care  agencies. For example, for patients that were at a high risk of emergency hospital admission the practice had produced emergency health care plans which  were readily available to other relevant agencies.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 5 March 2015

The practice is rated as good for the population group of people with long term conditions.  Emergency processes were  in place and referrals to secondary care made for patients in this group that had a sudden deterioration in health. When needed longer appointments and home visits were available. All patients with a long term condition had a named GP and received  regular GP and district nurse reviews to check their health and medication needs were being met. For those people with the most complex needs the named GP worked with relevant health and care professionals to deliver a multidisciplinary package of care.

Updated 5 March 2015

The practice is rated as good for the population group of families, children and young people. Systems were in place for identifying and following-up children living in disadvantaged circumstances and who were at risk. For example, there were weekly multidisciplinary child protection meetings. Immunisation rates were relatively high for all standard childhood immunisations. Patients told us and we saw evidence  that children and young people were treated in an age appropriate way and recognised as individuals. Appointments were available outside of school hours and the premises was suitable for children and babies. Health visitors were  based at the practice where they held child health clinics and breastfeeding groups met. We were provided with good examples of joint working with midwives and health visitors. Emergency processes were  in place and referrals made for children and pregnant women who had a sudden deterioration in health.

Updated 5 March 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 proactive, personalised care to meet the needs of the older people in its population and had a range of enhanced services, for example in dementia and end of life care.  The practice was responsive to the needs of older people, including offering home visits and rapid access appointments for those with enhanced needs and undertook weekly visits to residential care and nursing homes.

Updated 5 March 2015

The practice is rated as good for the population group of the working-age people (including those recently retired and students).The needs of this group of patients 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, pre-bookable Saturday morning appointments and online services as well as a full range of health promotion and screening which reflects the needs for this age group.

Updated 5 March 2015

The practice was rated as good for the population group of people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia). 95.3% of people with physical or mental health conditions had received an offer of support and treatment within the last 15 months.  86.4% of patients with dementia had their care reviewed within the preceding 15 months.  The practice worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of people experiencing poor mental health, including those with dementia.

The practice had signposted patients experiencing poor mental health to support groups, including MIND and SANE. The practice had a system in place to follow up on patients who had attended accident and emergency where there may have been mental health needs. Staff had received training on how to care for people with mental health needs and dementia.

Updated 5 March 2015

The practice was rated as good for the population group of people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable. The practice held a register of patients who may be more vulnerable, such as people with learning disabilities. The practice had carried out annual health checks for people with learning disabilities. The practice offered longer appointments for people with learning disabilities and other patients who required them.

The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of vulnerable people. 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.