Beech Hill Medical Practice

Updated 29 November 2022

Beech Hill Medical Practice is located in Wigan at:

278 Gidlow Lane

Beech Hill

Wigan

Greater Manchester

WN6 7PD

The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the Regulated Activities; diagnostic and screening procedures, maternity and midwifery services, family planning, treatment of disease, disorder or injury and surgical procedures.

The practice delivers a General Medical Services (GMS) to a patient population of 12215 at the time of inspection. This is part of a contract held with NHS England. The practice is part of a wider network of GP practices (Wigan North) Primary Care Network (PCN)) and is part of the Wigan locality of the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board.

Information published by Public Health England shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the fifth highest decile (five of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice population is relative to others.

According to the latest available data, the ethnic make-up of the practice area is 97% White and 3% Other. The majority of patients are within the 15 to 64 age group.

The age distribution of the practice population closely mirrors the local and national averages. There are more male patients registered at the practice compared to females.

There are two partner GPs (female), seven salaried GPS (four male/three female), two advanced nurse practitioners (one in training) (female), one advanced clinical practitioner (male), five practice nurses and one health care assistant. There is also a practice manager, deputy practice manager and a large supporting team of administrative staff. This includes two reception supervisors, GP and nurse receptionists, secretaries, and read code and summarisers. The practice also has their own inhouse pharmacist. The practice is also supported from the Primary Care Network (PCN) by mental health practitioners and a psychiatrist, physiotherapist, care coordinator and two clinical pharmacy technicians.

The practice is open between 8am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday. The practice opens on a Tuesday from 7am for nurse appointments and has late opening two evenings a week for nurse and GP appointments. The practice offers a range of appointment types including book on the day, telephone consultations and advance appointments.

Patients requiring a GP outside of normal working hours are advised to contact the surgery and they will be directed to the local out of hours service which is provided through NHS 111. Additionally, patients can access GP services in the evening through the PCN at their location and on Saturdays and Sundays through the Wigan GP access alliance at locations across Wigan Borough.

The practice is a training practice for GPs.

Updated 29 November 2022

We carried out an announced inspection at Beech Hill Medical Practice on 9 November 2022. Overall, the practice is rated as Good with the following key question ratings:

Safe -Good

Effective -Good

Caring – Good (rating awarded at the inspection 1 June 2016).

Responsive – Good (rating awarded at the inspection 1 June 2016)

Well-led - Good

The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Beech Hill Medical Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we carried out this inspection

We undertook this inspection as part of a random selection of services rated Good and Outstanding to test the reliability of our new monitoring approach.

How we carried out the inspection

Throughout the pandemic CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, taking into account the circumstances arising as a result of the pandemic, and in order to reduce risk, we have conducted our inspections differently.

This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site. This was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements.

This inspection included:

A site visit by the lead inspector.

Conducting staff interviews remotely and on site.

Completing clinical searches remotely on the practice’s patient records system and discussing findings with the provider.

Reviewing patient records remotely to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider.

Requesting evidence from the provider.

Gaining feedback from staff by using staff questionnaires.

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 have rated this practice as Good overall

We found that:

• The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
• Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
• Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
• The practice adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
• The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.

Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:

• Continue to work with patients to encourage the uptake of cervical screening.

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 Hospitals and Interim Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services