Blackberry Orthopaedic Clinic - Ipswich

This service is rated as Good overall.

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 Blackberry Orthopaedic Clinic – Ipswich on 12 July 2019. This inspection was to rate the service and is the first inspection at the service.

Blackberry Orthopaedic Clinic – Ipswich is an independent provider of services to treat back pain and sports injuries services. They offer a range of specialist diagnostic services and treatments, which include health assessments and physiotherapy.

This practice is registered with Care Quality Commission (CQC) under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of some, but not all, of the practices it provides. There are some exemptions from regulation by CQC which relate to particular types of services and these are set out in Schedule 2 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. Blackberry Orthopaedic Clinic - Ipswich is registered in respect of the provision of treatment of diseases, disorder or injury; Diagnostic and screening procedures. Therefore, we were only able to inspect the health screening service as well as clinical consultations, examinations and treatments in general medicine for example; musculoskeletal and sports medicine.

The practice is registered with the CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 to provide the following regulated activities:

• Diagnostic and screening procedures
• Treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

The area manager is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the practice. 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 practice is run.

As part of our inspection we asked for CQC comment cards to be completed by clients prior to our inspection visit. We received 16 comment cards which were wholly positive about the service and nature of staff. The cards reflected the kind and caring nature of staff, how informative staff were and the time taken with patients. Other forms of feedback, including patient surveys and social media feedback was consistently positive.

Our key findings were:

• We saw there was leadership within the service and the team worked together in a cohesive, supported, and open manner.
• There was an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour.
• Risks to patients were assessed and monitored.
• The service held a range of policies and procedures which were in place to govern activity; staff were able to access these policies.
• To ensure and monitor the quality of the service, the service completed audits which showed the effectiveness of the service.
• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence-based guidance.
• Staff had the skills, knowledge, and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• All patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity, and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• The service had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• The service proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on. Regular surveys were undertaken, and reports collated from the findings and action taken where required.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care