Archived: Dr Datta and Partners

Updated 1 October 2015

Dr Datta and partner provides medical services to patients in Wellingborough and surrounding areas. The practice provides services under a personal medical services (PMS) contract to a population of approximately 3,900 patients. There are two GPs partners, one male and one female and a regular female locum GP. They employ two practice nurses and a practice nurse from another surgery who attends once a week to provide care in diabetes and asthma. There is one health care assistant, a practice manager, who are supported by a team of reception and administrative staff.

The practice operate from the ground floor of a purpose built modern two storey building in Wellingborough, which accommodates a pharmacy and another GP practice and other services. The practice population is made up of a slightly higher than average number of patients between the ages of 0 and 4 years, 25 to 30 years and 45 to 60 years. Data indicates that the area has a slightly above average level of deprivation.

The practice is open between 8am and 6.30pm from Tuesday to Friday and from 8am until 7.30pm on Mondays. When the practice is closed, a message is left on the answerphone with a number to contact in an emergency.

Updated 1 October 2015

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr Datta and partner on 14 July 2015.

Overall the practice is rated as requires improvement.

Specifically, we found the practice to require improvement for providing safe, and well led services. The concerns which led to these ratings apply to everyone using the practice, including all population groups. Therefore it also required improvement for providing services for the older people, people with long term conditions, families, children and young people, working age people (including those recently retired and students), those people whose circumstances make them vulnerable and people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia). It was good for providing a caring and effective and responsive service.

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, but was not monitored and reviewed appropriately.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed, with the exception of those relating to recruitment checks, emergency equipment and medicines.
• 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, but was not left accessible to patients in the waiting area.
• 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 a number of policies and procedures to govern activity, most of these were in date but some required inclusion of dates. The practice did not hold regular governance meetings and issues were discussed at ad hoc meetings.

The areas where the provider must make improvements are:

• Ensure staff are appropriately trained to carry out chaperone duties.
• Ensure that all staff who carry out chaperone duties have a DBS check.
• Ensure that all clinical staff have a DBS check undertaken by the practice and reception and administration staff are risk assessed.
• Ensure that the systems and procedures for checking and monitoring emergency drugs and equipment are monitored to determine they are effective.
• Ensure that emergency equipment is stored in a safe place accessible to all staff in an emergency.
• Ensure that all staff have regular appraisal with documented outcomes.
• Ensure that all required pre-employment checks are carried out and recorded in staff files.
• Ensure that a system is introduced to track prescription pads used for hand written prescriptions.
• Ensure a means of reviewing and mitigating and recording all risks in the practice.

Action the provider SHOULD take to improve:

• Introduce notifications in the waiting area to inform patients that interpreters are available.
• Ensure the practice zero tolerance poster is in a place which can be easily viewed by all patients
• Ensure that the complaints procedure is advertised in the practice for patients to see.
• Ensure that all complaints and comments are formally recorded and reviewed and shared with all staff.
• Ensure that each room has a cleaning schedule to demonstrate daily cleaning by clinical staff.
• Introduce an inventory of medicines kept at the practice
• Introduce measures to encourage patients to stand back from the reception desk when other patients are being seen.
• Advertise to patients the facility to speak to a member of reception staff in private.
• Review policies and procedures so they reflect current practice.
• Ensure that all staff undertake the equity and diversity training available to them.
• Ensure that up to date patient group directives (PGDs) are available in the practice.
• Ensure that vision for the future development of the practice is formally shared with staff.
• Ensure that all significant events are captured and recorded formally to enable review and shared learning.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 1 October 2015

The provider was rated as requires improvement for safety and for well-led. The concerns which led to these ratings apply to everyone using the practice, including this population group. Nursing staff had lead roles in 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 1 October 2015

The provider was rated as requires improvement for safety and for well-led. The concerns which led to these ratings apply to everyone using the practice, including this population group. 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 relatively high for all standard 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 examples of joint working with midwives, health visitors.

Updated 1 October 2015

The provider was rated as requires improvement for safety and for well-led. The concerns which led to these ratings apply to everyone using the practice, including this population group. 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 and rapid access appointments for those with enhanced needs.

Updated 1 October 2015

The provider was rated as requires improvement for safety and for well-led. The practice is rated as requires improvement 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.

Updated 1 October 2015

The provider was rated as requires improvement for safety and for well-led. The concerns which led to these ratings apply to everyone using the practice, including this population group. People experiencing poor mental health had received an annual physical 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.

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.

Updated 1 October 2015

The provider was rated as requires improvement for safety and for well-led. The concerns which led to these ratings apply to everyone using the practice, including this population group. The practice held a register of patients living in vulnerable circumstances including homeless people, travellers and those with a learning disability. It had carried out annual health checks for people with a learning disability. It offered longer appointments for people with a learning disability.

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.