Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Maples Medical Centre, 2 Scout drive, Newall Green, Manchester, M23 2SY on 14 November 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.

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

• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• 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. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and 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.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

We saw several areas of outstanding practice:

The practice had a focus on social inititives to improve social isolation for vulnerable patients. They supported community services such as, the NewLife opportunities centre. The centre offered access to sports pitches, a recording studio, and a hall for events and dancing for the people of Wythenshawe. The practice also hosted the weekly Brush & Brew sessions which were held at the branch practice (The Lakes). GPs were able to refer patients to Brush & Brew which is a therapy programme aimed at promoting wellbeing for patients in the area.

The practice launched the local TimeBank service and there was a weekly meeting held at The Maples. This meeting was open to patients and members of the local community. TimeBank provided a mentoring service and worked with businesses to engage their staff in volunteering to support vulnerable patients and people in the community.

The practice was working closely with staff from Healthy Manchester who liaised with the practice on a quarterly basis. GPs made referrals to this eight week telephone based service. The service helped patients to manage their condition and where possible supported them back into employment. Data provided by the practice and Healthy Manchester showed The Maples had referred 55 patients which was the highest referral rate in Greater Manchester.

One of the GPs held teaching a recent teaching session at a local dementia care service on basic observations such as; urine dip testing. This assisted staff with identifying and expediting treatment for patients who had urinary tract infections. Since the training staff have contacted the practice with results of a dip test and correctly identified early a patient who required antibiotic treatment.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Establish an ongoing programme of clinical audit to demonstrate quality improvement relating to the outcomes for patients.

• Obtain a set of paediatric defibrillator pads for useon children.

• Include information about the parliamentary health service ombudsman (PHSO) in final complaint response letters.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice