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Archived: Pendle Valley Mill Medical Practice

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Carr Road, Nelson, Lancashire, BB9 7SR (01282) 657657

Provided and run by:
Padiham Group Practice

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 21 May 2019

Pendle Valley Medical Practice is situated in a purpose built health centre premises located close to the centre of Nelson (Carr Road, Nelson, BB9 7SR). The practice also has a branch surgery at Brierfield Health Care Centre, Arthur Street, Brierfield, BB9 5SN. We did not visit the branch site as part of this inspection.

The practice is part of the NHS East Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). Services are delivered under an Alternative Provider Medical Service (APMS) contract with NHS England. There are approximately 14,800 registered patients.

While Padiham Group Practice is the lead provider and therefore registered as such with CQC, the provider running the practice is a collaboration between Padiham Group Practice, Waterfoot Group of Doctors and East Lancashire Hospitals Trust, known as PWE Healthcare. The organisation also manages two other GP practices in the area.

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

Information published by Public Health England rates the level of deprivation within the practice population group as level two on a scale of one to 10. Level one represents the highest level of deprivation and level 10 the lowest.

The average life expectancy of the practice population is below the local and national averages for both males and females (80.1 years for females, compared to CCG average of 81.4 and national average of 83.2 and 76 years for males compared to CCG average of 76.9 and national average of 79.2).

The practice patient list has a higher proportion of younger patients when compared to the average GP practice in England. For example, 27.2% are aged under 18 years (22% locally and 20.5% nationally). Conversely, the practice has a lower proportion of older patients, with 11.9% of patients being over 65 years of age (18.1% locally and 17.3% nationally). The practice has 44.1% of its population with a long-standing health condition, which is lower than the local average of 55.1% and the England average of 51.4%.

The practice is staffed by three salaried GPs. They are supported by an operational manager, two nurse practitioners, three practice nurses, two pharmacists and an administration team including secretaries and reception staff.

When the practice is closed patients are asked to contact NHS 111 for Out of Hours GP care, provided locally by East Lancashire Medical Services.

The current provider took over the practice in July 2018. Therefore, unless stated, data and results used throughout the report and evidence tables relate to the previous registered provider.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 21 May 2019

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Pendle Valley Mill Medical Practice on 20 March 2019 as part of our inspection programme.

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 and good for all population groups.

We found that:

  • The provider had acted swiftly to ascertain areas where improvements were required on taking over the service in July 2018. Action plans had been formulated and work begun to address these areas.
  • 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.
  • Patient feedback about the practice was variable, although most published feedback related to the previous provider. We saw that staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way. The provider was engaged in further work to improve continuity of care and access for patients.
  • The practice organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs.
  • 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:

  • Improve the system for documenting significant events and near misses in order to maximise learning outcomes and provide improved managerial oversight of any trends and themes.
  • Review complaint response letters to include details of how patients can escalate their complaints should they be unhappy with the practice’s reply.

Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care