Rope Green Medical Centre Also known as Dr Hadrill and Partners

Updated 8 October 2015

Rope Green Medical Centre is a purpose built practice situated in a semi- rural area near Crewe, Cheshire. There were 17,100 patients on the practice list at the time of our inspection and the majority of patients were of white British background.

The practice is a training practice managed by two executive GP partners; two other GP partners and the practice manager who was also a partner. There are also three salaried GPs and trainee GPs and long term locums. There are five practice nurses and a healthcare assistant. Members of clinical staff are supported by the practice manager and two deputy managers, a personal assistant to the executive GP partners and 23 reception and administration staff.

The practice is open 8am to 6.30pm every weekday. Patients requiring a GP outside of normal working hours are advised to contact the GP out of hours service provided by Central Eastern Cheshire nights and evening and weekends service.

The practice has a Personal Medical Service (PMS) contract and had enhanced services contracts for example, childhood vaccinations.

Updated 8 October 2015

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Rope Green Medical Centre on 11 August 2015.

Overall the practice is rated good and outstanding for providing effective care.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

• The practice was clean and had good facilities including disabled access, lowered reception desks for wheelchair users, hearing loops, and easy read format information and translation facilities.
• The practice had other visiting healthcare professionals available including a physiotherapist, speech therapist, health visitors and podiatrists. There was also a consultant led rheumatology clinic available.
• Information about services and how to complain was available. The practice sought patient views about improvements that could be made to the service, including having a patient participation group (PPG) and acted on feedback.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance.
• The practice was very organised and well led. All staff had been at the practice many years and worked well together as a team.

There were areas of outstanding practice including:

• Bespoke reception support for each GP to ensure continuity of care for the patient.
• The practice had trained, experienced nurses for management of long term conditions such as diabetes. Each nurse had their own room containing all the facilities and patient information necessary to deal with that particular medical condition.
• The practice held regular meetings with other healthcare professionals and social services to support patients with more complex needs. The practice had made the decision to continue these meetings even though no further funding arrangements were available to ensure their patients received the best package of seamless joined up care.
• The practice mentored a local Care Home to provide support and training with a monthly meeting to review any hospital admissions/A&E attendances with a view to identifying plans to stop inappropriate attendances and admissions. Following each meeting a significant event analysis form was completed and submitted to the CCG with any outcomes or proposed changes.

However there were improvements the provider should consider:-

• Include the address and contact details of ombudsman services on the practice complaints information for patients.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 8 October 2015

These patients had a six monthly or annual review with either the GP and/or the nurse to check their health and medication. The practice had registers in place for several long term conditions including diabetes and asthma. Patients were allocated specific practice nurses for their management of the condition.

Updated 8 October 2015

There were systems in place to identify and follow up children living in disadvantaged circumstances and who were at risk, for example, children and young people who had a high number of A&E attendances. The practice regularly liaised with health visitors who attended on a weekly basis. Immunisation rates were high for all standard childhood immunisations.

Updated 8 October 2015

The practice offered proactive, personalised care to meet the needs of the older people in its population and offered home visits and nursing home visits. The practice participated in meetings with other healthcare professionals and social services to discuss any concerns. There was a named GP for the over 75s.

Updated 8 October 2015

The needs of this population group had been identified and the practice had adjusted the services it offered to ensure these were accessible. For example, the practice offered online appointment bookings. The practice was working with other practices in the area to be part of the Prime Minister’s Challenge Fund to offer extended hours opening specifically to target those patients who worked during normal practice opening times.

Updated 8 October 2015

Patients experiencing poor mental health received an invitation for an annual physical health check. Those that did not attend had alerts placed on their records so they could be reviewed opportunistically. There were plans to introduce a clinic for elderly patients with mental health and dementia issues and staff and the PPG were involved in dementia friend training. The practice had received additional training from local psychiatrists and one GP partner had recently received training in Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) assessor training.

Updated 8 October 2015

The practice held a register of patients living in vulnerable circumstances including those with a learning disability. It had carried out annual health checks and longer appointments were available for people with a learning disability which were either scheduled at the beginning or end of a clinical session. Staff had received safeguarding training and additional training in communication techniques.