St Paul's Partners

We carried out an announced inspection at St Paul’s Partners on 8 December 2021. Overall, the practice is rated as Good.

We rated each key question as follows:

Safe - Good

Effective – Good

Caring - Good

Responsive - Good

Well-led - Good

Why we carried out this inspection

We inspected St Pauls Partners to provide a rating for the practice, as it had not been inspected since registration. .

This inspection was a comprehensive inspection which included all five key questions: safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

How we carried out the inspection

Throughout the pandemic CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, taking into account the circumstances arising as a result of the pandemic, and in order to reduce risk, we have conducted our inspections differently.

This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site. This was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements.

This included:

• Conducting clinical staff interviews using video conferencing
• Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system and discussing findings with the provider
• Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider
• Requesting evidence from the provider
• A short site visit

Our findings

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

We found that:

• Since taking over the practice, the provider had implemented a range of systems and processes to ensure care was provided in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
• The practice adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. This included enhanced infection control procedures.
• Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
• Effective procedures for the management of medicines were in place to ensure patients received appropriate reviews. This included regular monitoring of patients on high risk medicines.
• There was emphasis on staff wellbeing, and this was demonstrated through discussions with staff and evidence of appraisals. Staff were encouraged to develop and were provided with training opportunities.
• The practice adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
• Quality indicators and regular audits were completed to improve patient outcomes.
• Risk management processes were in place and we found assessments of risks had been completed. These included fire safety, health and safety, and infection control. This ensured that risks had been considered to ensure the safety of staff and patients and to mitigate any future risks.
• The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.
• There was a strong focus on learning and development. A programme of clinical audits had been implemented to monitor the quality of services provided and improve patient outcomes.

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