Archived: Bolton General Practice Also known as SSP Health Ltd

Updated 27 August 2015

Bolton General Practice has about 4,300 patients registered. It is part of and managed by the SSP Health group of practices and is overseen Bolton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). The population experiences higher levels of income deprivation affecting children and older people than the practice average across England. There are a lower proportion of patients above 65 years of age (2%) than the practice average across England (16.7%). There are a high proportion of patients registered who are or were refugees/asylum seekers and from a socially deprived background.

There are two regular GPs supported by a healthcare assistant. There is also a practice manager, assistant and supporting administration and reception team. There is regular support for the practice from senior leadership team, including clinicians and managers, at SSP Health.

The practice delivers commissioned services under the Alternative Provider Medical Services (APMS) contract.

The practice is open between 8.00am and 7pm Monday to Friday and from 9am to 12.30pm on a Saturday. Appointments are available throughout the opening times.

Patients can book appointments in person or via the phone and online. Emergency appointments are available each day. Bury and Rochdale Doctors (BARDOC) provide urgent out of hours medical care when the practice is closed.

Updated 27 August 2015

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Bolton General Practice on 6 August 2015.

Overall the practice is rated as good.

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

• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses. Information about safety was recorded, monitored, appropriately reviewed and addressed.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed, including those relating to recruitment checks.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance. Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and any further training needs had been identified and planned.
• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and that there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

• The practice has a patient liaison officer whose role is to provide advocacy and support for patients, and to act as a focal point of communication between the patients, practice and external agencies.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 27 August 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of people with long-term conditions. Chronic disease management and patients at risk of hospital admission were identified as a priority. Longer appointments and home visits were available when needed. All these patients had a named GP and a structured annual review to check that 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 27 August 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of families, children and young people. Patients told us that children and young people were treated in an age-appropriate way and were recognised as individuals, and we saw evidence to confirm this. Appointments were available outside of school hours and the premises were suitable for children and babies. There were weekly baby clinics for child health surveillance and immunisations and a comprehensive family planning service. A full immunisation programme was undertaken by the practice.

All staff had undertaken safeguarding children training to the appropriate level for their role. One of the GPs was the practice lead for Safeguarding. All clinical staff demonstrated a clear understanding of Gillick competencies. (These help clinicians to identify children aged under 16 who have the legal capacity to consent to medical examination and treatment).

Updated 27 August 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of older people. Nationally reported data showed that outcomes for patients were good for conditions commonly found in 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. It was responsive to the needs of older people, and offered home visits, care home visits and rapid access appointments for those with enhanced needs.

Updated 27 August 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 that reflects the needs for this age group. The practice delivered a cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk assessment direct enhanced service (DES) for those patients who do not have any existing chronic disease. There were 923 patients invited for this in the age range 40yrs to 74yrs and 667 risk assessments had been completed. There was a recall system in place to ensure the remaining patients were reviewed.

Appointments and prescriptions could be booked online in advance. Telephone consultations were also available to patients who could not attend the practice.

Updated 27 August 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia). 93% of people experiencing poor mental health had received an annual physical health check and review. The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of people experiencing poor mental health, including those with dementia. It carried out advance care planning for patients with dementia.

The practice had told patients experiencing poor mental health about how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations. It had a system in place to follow up patients who had attended accident and emergency (A&E) where they may have been experiencing poor mental health. Staff had received training on how to care for people with mental health needs and dementia. All clinical staff we spoke demonstrated an understanding of the mental capacity act.

Updated 27 August 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable. The practice held a register of patients living in vulnerable circumstances including homeless people, asylum seekers and those with a learning disability. The practice has a patient liaison officer to provide advocacy for patients in this population group and acts as a focal point of communication between patients, GPs and other members of the primary health care team.

The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of vulnerable people. It had told vulnerable patients about how to access various support groups and voluntary 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 normal working hours and out of hours.

Translation services were available for patients whose first language was not English.