Archived: CESP (Gloucestershire) @ Nuffield Health Cheltenham Hospital

Hatherley Lane, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL51 6SY (01242) 521919

Provided and run by:
Consultant Eye Surgeons Partnership (Gloucestershire) LLP

All Inspections

4, 6 September 2013

During a routine inspection

We spoke with two people and their relatives/representatives. Both people felt they had received a high standard of service and they would recommend this provider. One person said they would give their surgeon "ten of ten" for their treatment.

We previously visited this provider in February 2013. At that time we had concerns about arrangements for dealing with complaints. We were also concerned that there were inadequate systems in place to monitor quality and safety. We returned to check whether improvements had been made in these areas. We also looked at how the service cooperated with other providers, arrangements for obtaining the consent of people in relation to treatment and arrangements to ensure that people were cared for by people with appropriate skills, qualifications and experience.

We found arrangements were in place for dealing with complaints and systems to monitor quality and safety.

Records also showed that CESP liaised with other healthcare professionals involved in people's care. Referring GPs and opticians were kept informed about people's treatment and any on-going care required.

We looked at records of training and supervision for the surgeons working at CESP. The provider had assurance from the surgeons' NHS employer that they had maintained the necessary skills and qualifications to undertake their role, although records held by CESP were not all up to date.

20 February 2013

During a routine inspection

We visited CESP's Gloucestershire headquarters in Cheltenham. We looked at records relating to services at the Nuffield Health Cheltenham Hospital.

We spoke over the telephone with four patient's who had undergone eye surgery at the Nuffield Health Cheltenham Hospital. Their feedback was very positive. They said they were well informed about their treatment. They told us that staff were friendly and put them at their ease. They had confidence in the surgeons who performed their surgery. One patient said "I received an excellent service".

Patient's who had their surgery at this hospital were sent details about their admission and information about the Nuffield Health Cheltenham Hospital. Staff from this hospital told us that arrangements were in place to deal with medical emergencies. Patient's were given information about after effects of surgery and how to care for themselves at home.

Eye surgeons were subject to performance appraisal by their NHS employer and assurance was provided to CESP that their practice had been reviewed and that they had accessed regular training. There were systems in place to capture patient feedback and clinical outcome data. However, this information was not routinely reported to or considered by the registered manager or the medical advisory committee.

The complaints procedure was not well publicised and there was insufficient evidence that complaints were investigated and resolved to patient's satisfaction.