Archived: King George Hospital

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 17 January 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 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.

Health 1000: The Wellness Practice is a primary care practice providing joined up health and social care services to complex care patients living within the London Boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge. Health 1000 also provides services to four nursing homes within the boroughs.

The practice which is located within King George Hospital in Ilford, Essex, provides a ‘one-stop’ practice for people with complex health needs. Complex health needs are defined as having five or more long term conditions, such as, high blood pressure, diabetes, dementia, coronary heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The service is a GP led service, which is comprised of a multi-disciplinary team of NHS healthcare professional who work together in the practice to give patients a holistic approach to the provision of healthcare. The fluid multi-disciplinary team includes GP’s, specialist doctors, nurses, social workers, key workers, care navigators, practice manager, pharmacist, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and reception staff.

Twenty people provided feedback about the service which indicated patients were treated with kindness, respect and compassion. Staff were described as friendly, caring, approachable and professional. Some patients commented how the use of the service had helped them with their individual care needs and described the practice as being clean and tidy.

Our key findings were:

• Staff were aware of current evidence based guidance and carried out a wide range of quality improvement activity to improve patient outcomes.
• Staff had been trained with the skills and knowledge to deliver effective care and treatment. The multi-disciplinary team worked to ensure with each other, external agencies and the patient to deliver a co-ordinated holistic package of care.
• Feedback from patients we spoke to, CQC patient comment cards and service survey results showed patients were very satisfied with their care and treated with compassion, dignity and respect.
• Information about services and how to complain was available. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns.
• Patients we spoke with said they did not have to wait too long to access the service and there was continuity of care.
• The service had good facilities and was equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The service proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
• The provider was aware of the requirements of the duty of candour. Examples we reviewed showed the service complied with these requirements.

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

• Review arrangements regarding the calibration of clinical equipment used at the practice.
• Review arrangements to risk assess members of staff undertaking chaperoning duties who do not have a valid DBS check.
• Review how learning following incidents/significant events is shared with all team members.
• Review the process of how safety alerts are acted upon by staff and where (if action is taken) are the actions recorded.