Lomack Health Clinic

Updated 24 December 2018

Lomack Health Clinic offers services from its location at 162 Bedford Road, Kempston, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK42 8BH. The service offers private occupational health services and travel vaccinations. The service offers specialist sexual health screening, emergency contraception and treatment for sexually transmitted infections. Occupational health services were not inspected as part of this inspection.

The clinical team consists of a sole provider who is the lead GP (male). The service is provided by Lomack Health Ltd. The clinic has some administration and compliance support from staff employed by Lomack Health Ltd.

The practice operates from the ground floor of a two-storey building, with disabled access to the side of the building. There is a large car park outside the surgery, with disabled parking available.

Lomack Health Clinic is open from 9am to 6pm on Monday to Friday where patients can use the walk-in service or pre-book appointments. The service also offers an appointment service on Saturdays. Appointments can be made outside of this time through prior arrangement.

The practice provides treatment of disease, disorder or injury and diagnostic as their regulated activity.

Our inspection team was led by a CQC lead inspector. The team included a GP specialist adviser.

Before inspecting, we reviewed a range of information we hold about the service and asked other organisations to share what they knew. During our inspection we:

• Reviewed an anonymised sample of the personal care or treatment records of patients.
• Reviewed service policies, procedures and other relevant documentation.
• Inspected the premises and equipment used by the service.
• Reviewed CQC comment cards completed by service users.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask the following five questions:

• Is it safe?
• Is it effective?
• Is it caring?
• Is it responsive to people’s needs?
• Is it well-led?

These questions therefore formed the framework for the areas we looked at during the inspection.

Updated 24 December 2018

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 4 December 2018 to ask the service the following key questions; Are services safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led?

Our findings were:

Are services safe?

We found that this service was providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services effective?

We found that this service was providing effective care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services caring?

We found that this service was providing caring services in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services responsive?

We found that this service was providing responsive care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services well-led?

We found that this service was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 on 4 December 2018 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the service was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

The service provides private GP services including health screening, particularly sexual health screening and travel vaccinations.

This service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of some, but not all, of the services it provides. There are some general exemptions from regulation by CQC which relate to particular types of service and these are set out in Schedule 2 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. At Lomack Health Clinic services are provided to patients under arrangements made by an insurance company with whom the service user holds a policy (other than a standard health insurance policy). These types of arrangements are exempt by law from CQC regulation. Therefore, at Lomack Health Centre, we were only able to inspect the services which are not arranged for patients by an insurance company with whom the patient holds a policy (other than a standard health insurance policy).

The principal GP is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

As part of our inspection, we asked for Care Quality Commission comment cards to be completed by patients prior to our inspection. We received 20 comment cards which were positive about the level of care provided. Patients told us staff were caring and took time to understand their needs.

Our key findings were:

• The service provided a bespoke travel vaccination and sexual health screening service.
• The service had developed a dedicated sexual health telephone line where patients spoke directly to a clinician and received tailored advice. This service was completely confidential.
• There was clear oversight of risk and processes with clear policies and procedures.
• The service had adequate controls of infection prevention and control.
• The service completed regular audits and mock inspections to ensure it was working in line with current legislation.
• The service worked to current evidence-based guidelines and gave up-to-date travel advice.
• The service completed patient feedback exercises and acted on any suggestions or concerns.
• Patients were able to book appointments at a time that was convenient, this included weekends.
• Clinical records were accurately maintained and stored securely.

There were areas where the provider could make improvements and should:

• Review the process for completing fire drills and ensure they are completed regularly.
• Review the process for minuting meetings and support from the wider provider organisation.
• Review infection control procedures to include implementation of a cleaning schedule for all soft furnishings and carpeted areas.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP Chief Inspector of General Practice