The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • Out of hours GP service

Tower Hamlets Out of Hours GP Service

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Whitechapel Rd, London, E1 1BB (020) 3961 8564

Provided and run by:
Tower Hamlets GP Care Group CIC

All Inspections

6 July 2023

During a monthly review of our data

We carried out a review of the data available to us about Tower Hamlets Out of Hours GP Service on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.

This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.

If you have concerns about Tower Hamlets Out of Hours GP Service, you can give feedback on this service.

28 September and 2 October 2023

During a routine inspection

This service is rated as Good overall.

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Requires improvement

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? – Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of Tower Hamlets Out of Hours GP Service on 28 September and 2 October 2023. The service had previously been inspected in October 2018, at which point the location was an out of hours service only. The inspection in October 2018 had rated the service as good overall, and in all five key questions.

The registered manager for the service had been the Director of Clinical Governance. The manager had recently departed the organisation and the service was in the process of appointing a new 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.

At this inspection we found:

  • The service had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the service learned from them and improved their processes. However, we saw in one incident reviewed that a report did not comment on the insufficient follow up arrangements for a patient.
  • The service was not meeting key performance indicators as required by its commissioners for the number of patients categorised as urgent seen in two hours in the out of hours service.
  • The service routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
  • Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
  • Patients found the service easy to access and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it. The service was not ensuring a throughput of patients in line with its four-hour target.
  • There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.

The areas where the provider must make improvements as they are in breach of regulations are:

  • Ensure that care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

  • Review how two separate databases are used to record patient information, and to store policies and procedures.
  • Review monitoring procedures to ensure that expired equipment is removed from areas where it might be used.
  • Review systems to ensure that all clinical staff are aware of learning from incidents.
  • Review DBS security checking protocols so that the provider may be assured that they are up to date.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

Chief Inspector of Health Care

3 October 2018

During a routine inspection

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 of the out of hours service run by Tower Hamlets GP Care Group, which is registered with CQC under the name ‘Royal London Hospital’. This service is also known as ‘Tower Hamlets GP Out of Hours Service'.

At this inspection we found:

  • The service routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided.
  • The service had good systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When they did happen, the service learned from them and improved their processes.
  • Staff involved and treated people with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
  • Patients were able to access care and treatment from the service within an appropriate timescale for their needs.
  • There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.
  • The service had an overarching governance framework in place, including policies and protocols which had been developed at a provider level and had been adapted to meet the needs of the service locally.

There are areas where the provider should make improvements:

  • Develop effective systems and processes to ensure that the service meets national targets. Take steps to ensure clinicians produce comprehensive clinical consultation notes to aid effective review and quality improvement.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice