Background to this inspection
Updated
26 April 2018
The registered provider of the service is Hurley Clinic Partnership. The address of the registered provider is Hurley Clinic, Ebenezer House Kennington Lane, London, SE11 4HJ. The practice is registered as a partnership of three partners with the Care Quality Commission to provide the regulated activities of diagnostic and screening services, family planning services, maternity and midwifery services, surgical procedures and treatment of disease, disorder or injury. Three further partners are due to apply to be added to the provider’s registration.
Regulated activities are provided at 16 locations operated by the provider, including Sternhall Lane Surgery. The practice website is http://sternhalllanesurgery.co.uk.
Sternhall Lane Surgery provides services to 5800 patients in Peckham, South London and is one of 38 member practices of Southwark Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). The practice provides services to two care homes and a local detox rehabilitation facility.
The practice has a higher than national average population of those of working age and a higher than average number of those over 65 for England. There is a lower than average percentage of children aged 5-14. Deprivation scores are higher than local and national averages for older people and higher than national average for children. The practice is in the 3rd most deprived decile in England. Of patients registered with the practice, approximately 50% are White or White British, 34% are Black or Black British, 8% are Asian or Asian British, and 8% are other or mixed ethnic backgrounds.
Sternhall Lane Surgery operates from a converted residential property which is owned by a previous GP contract holder. Due to ongoing premises upkeep issues, the practice has liaised with the CCG and a business case has been submitted to relocate the practice to more suitable premises. The surgery is accessible to those with mobility problems.
Of the three partners due to be added to the provider’s registration details, one male partner works at Sternhall Lane Surgery as the lead GP. There are two part time female salaried GPs and a long-standing part time female locum GP. There is a part time female salaried GP providing sessions to the two care homes registered with the practice. In total the practice provides 33 doctor sessions per week; 23 at the practice and 10 specifically for the care home patients.
There is a further part time female salaried GP who solely provides one session at the local substance misuse rehabilitation facility.
There is one full time practice nurse and a part time health care assistant. The non-clinical team includes the practice manager, the patient services manager, two administrative staff and three reception staff. Managerial support is provided from the Hurley Clinic Partnership business manager and the local regional manager.
Updated
26 April 2018
This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection 11 July 2017 – the practice was rated as Requires improvement.)
The key questions are rated as:
Are services safe? – Good
Are services effective? – Good
Are services caring? – Good
Are services responsive? – Good
Are services well-led? - Good
As part of our inspection process, we also look at the quality of care for specific population groups. The population groups are rated as:
Older People – Good
People with long-term conditions – Good
Families, children and young people – Good
Working age people (including those recently retired and students – Good
People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable – Good
People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia) - Good
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Sternhall Lane Surgery on 9 August 2016. The overall rating for the practice was requires improvement. As a result of our findings from this inspection CQC issued a requirement notice for the identified breaches of Regulations 12, 17 and 18 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.
We carried out a further announced comprehensive inspection on 11 July 2017 to follow up on the breaches of regulations and areas of improvement identified. While most of the issues leading to the breaches in August 2016 had been resolved, further concerns were identified in relation to infection control, medicines management and governance systems. Overall the practice remained rated as requires improvement and CQC issued a requirement notice for the breach of Regulation 17 and a warning notice for the breach of regulation 12.
The full comprehensive reports for the previous inspections in 2016 and 2017 can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Sternhall Lane Surgery on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
This inspection was undertaken within six months of the publication of the last inspection as the practice was rated as inadequate for one of the key questions; are services safe? This inspection was an announced comprehensive inspection on 14 March 2018 under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was to follow up on the breaches of regulations 12 and 17 and areas of improvement identified from the last inspection, in line with our next phase inspection programme.
At this inspection we found:
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The practice had clear and improved systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes.
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The practice had improved the management of prescriptions and results so they were safe.
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The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
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The practice had implemented a number of systems to ensure that staff had the skills and knowledge to provide effective care.
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Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
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Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
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Complaints were investigated and responded to openly and thoroughly and information about how to make a complaint was easily accessible for patients.
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There was a positive and open culture and staff felt supported by the practice leaders; systems for cascading information to staff had improved.
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There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.
The areas where the provider should make improvements are:
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Continue to engage with the premises owner regarding premises improvements.
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Work to increase the uptake of breast and bowel screening and improve child immunisations in areas that are below the national target.
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Review how the Patient Participation Group can be used to improve the service delivered.
Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice