Archived: Newton Community Hospital Practice Also known as SSP Health Ltd

Updated 5 November 2015

Newton Community Hospital Practice is registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide primary care services. It is part of the organisation SSP Health which provides primary medical services through a number of GP practices in the North West of England. It provides GP services for approximately 2800 patients living in Newton le Willows. The practice is situated in a purpose built health centre. The practice has one female GP (with a vacancy for a second part time GP), a practice management team, practice nurse, healthcare assistant, administration and reception staff. Newton Community Hospital Practice holds a General Medical Services (GMS) contract with NHS England.

The practice is open during the week, between 8am and 7.30pm on Mondays and 8am and 6.30pm Tuesday to Friday. Patients can book appointments in person, via the telephone or online. SMS text messaging is available for cancellation of appointments. The practice provides telephone consultations, pre bookable consultations, urgent consultations and home visits. The practice treats patients of all ages and provides a range of primary medical services.

The practice is part of St Helen’s Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). The practice population is made up of a predominately working age population.

The practice does not provide out of hours services. There is information and a contact phone number on the website advising whom to contact out of usual practice opening hours including the local Walk In centre and NHS 111

Updated 5 November 2015

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Newton Community Hospital Practice on 15 September 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 lessons learnt disseminated.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• 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 were treated with care, compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment. They were not rushed at appointments and full explanations of their treatment were given. They valued their practice highly.
• 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 routine and 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 an area of outstanding practice:

• The practice staff worked well as a team delivered a high standard of care and put patients first. There was continuity in care and individuality with patients being well known to the practice. Patients we spoke with and comment cards reviewed confirmed a high level of satisfaction with the care given by the practice staff. Staff demonstrated they were motivated and inspired to offer kind, compassionate care.

There was an area where the provider could make improvements and they should:

• Ensure that national patient safety and other relevant alerts and guidance is followed and actions taken recorded.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 5 November 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of people with long-term conditions. The practice maintained and monitored registers of patients with long term conditions for example cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and heart failure. These registers enabled the practice to monitor and review patients with long term conditions effectively. Clinical staff had lead roles in chronic disease management and patients at risk of hospital admission were identified as a priority with all these patients having had a completed care plan. Longer appointments and home visits were available when needed. 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 5 November 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of families, children and young people. 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. Immunisation rates were high for all standard childhood immunisations and innovative ideas were implemented to encourage uptake of childhood immunisations. 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. We saw good examples of joint working with midwives and health visitors.

Updated 5 November 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 those at risk of unplanned admissions to hospital and end of life care. It was responsive to the needs of older people, and offered home visits and extended appointments for those with enhanced needs.

Updated 5 November 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 reflected the needs for this age group. The practice used telemedicine electrocardiographs (ECG) in house to care more efficiently for those working people with heart conditions and to monitor their conditions remotely without the need for them to attend the practice.

Updated 5 November 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia). 100% of people experiencing poor mental health had received an annual review and health check. 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 with 92% of patients having an agreed care plan in place.

The practice was able to signpost patients experiencing poor mental health 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 with the majority of staff being ‘Dementia Friends’. (Dementia Friends is about giving more people an understanding of dementia and the small things that could make a difference to people living in their community).

Updated 5 November 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 those with a learning disability and had alerts on patients’ records to identify them so that care and treatment could be prioritised with same day appointments available to them when needed. It had carried out annual health checks for people with a learning disability and provided care and support to a local boarding school for people with autism.

The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of vulnerable people. It was able to signpost vulnerable patients and their carers 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. Staff had received bespoke training on equality and diversity delivered for the general practice team.