The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • Independent doctor

Archived: Waterloo

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Waterloo Business Centre, 117 Waterloo Road, London, SE1 8UL (020) 7183 0553

Provided and run by:
The Doctors Clinic Group Ltd

All Inspections

19 June 2019

During a routine inspection

This service is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection 14 March 2018.)

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

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at London Doctors Clinic Limited, Waterloo on 19 June 2019 as part of our current inspection programme. We previously inspected this service on 14 March 2018 using our previous methodology, where we did not apply ratings.

London Doctors Clinic Limited, Waterloo is an independent doctors service which provides private general medicine services on a single-visit basis (the service does not regularly manage long-term conditions). All services are private and subject to payment of fees. No NHS services are provided.

The senior manager of the company 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.

We received four completed CQC comment cards which were all consistently positive about the service. Patients commented that the doctors were attentive, caring and professional.

Our key findings were:

  • The service provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
  • There was an open and transparent approach to safety and a system in place for recording, reporting and learning from significant events and incidents. The service had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents happened, the service learned from them and reviewed their processes to implement improvements.
  • There were clearly defined and embedded systems, processes and practices to keep people safe and safeguarded from abuse, and for identifying and mitigating risks of health and safety.
  • Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
  • The service organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. Patients said that they could access care and treatment in a timely way.
  • The service reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence-based guidelines and best practice.
  • Patients told us that all staff treated them with kindness and respect and that they felt involved in discussions about their care and treatment options.
  • Doctors had the appropriate skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
  • The service took complaints and concerns seriously and responded to them appropriately to improve the quality of care.

We saw an example of outstanding practice:

The service had a comprehensive and effective approach to managing and responding to patient feedback and complaints:

  • All patients were sent a questionnaire to complete following each consultation they received. Feedback was collated and analysed at an organisational level.
  • Feedback was sent to doctors immediately, and doctors also received detailed monthly summaries of their feedback.
  • All patient feedback that scored less than four or five overall (out of five), or any feedback containing any negative comments, was classified as a complaint and handled according to the organisation’s complaints arrangements.
  • The organisation used feedback and complaints to inform staff training and development.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGPChief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care

14 March 2018

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 14 March 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.

Background

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.

London Doctors Clinic Ltd, Waterloo is an independent provider of medical services. The service provides general practice services on a single visit basis (the service does not regularly manage long term conditions). Services are provided from Mercury House, 117 Waterloo Road, London, SE1 8UL in the London borough of Lambeth. All of the services provided are private and are therefore fee paying, no NHS services are provided at the site.

The service is open seven days a week from 8am to 8pm. The service has practitioners who may be available out of these hours in the event that existing patients need to speak to clinicians, but does not offer elective care outside of these hours.

The premise is located on the first floor, which is accessible by a lift. The property is leased by the provider and the premises consist of a patient reception area, and two consulting rooms.

The provider supplies private general practitioner services. The senior manager of the company is also 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 CQC comment cards to be completed by patients prior to our inspection. We received 13 comment cards which were all extremely positive about the standard of care received, across the services offered. Comments included that staff, were kind, caring, polite, friendly, helpful and patients said they were treated with dignity and respect.

Our key findings were:

  • The service had systems in place to manage significant events.
  • Risks to patients were assessed and managed, the service held emergency medicines and equipment.
  • Policies and procedures were in place to govern all relevant areas.
  • Clinicians assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance.
  • Staff had received essential training and adequate recruitment and monitoring information was held for all staff.
  • 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 online, but not in the reception area, and was easy to understand.
  • Patients were provided with information relating to their condition and where relevant how to manage their condition at home.
  • The service had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
  • The service sought feedback from patients, which showed that a large majority of patients were satisfied with the service they had received.
  • The service was aware of and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour.

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

  • Consider advertising the complaints process in the reception area.