• Doctor
  • Out of hours GP service

Archived: SEEDS - Thurrock Hospital

The John Tallack Centre, Thurrock Community Hospital, Long Lane, Grays, Essex, RM16 2PX (01375) 393388

Provided and run by:
South Essex Emergency Doctors Service

All Inspections

10 July 2014

During an inspection of this service

12th February 2014

During an inspection looking at part of the service

South Essex Emergency Doctors Service (SEEDS) is a co-operative of local GPs based at Thurrock Community Hospital. They are responsible for out-of-hours primary care when GP surgeries are closed and cover a population of 154,000. One primary care centre is at the Thurrock community Hospital and the other is in the children’s outpatients department at Basildon Hospital. This report only relates to the Thurrock Community Hospital location. There is a separate report for the Basildon Hospital location.

We chose to inspect SEEDS Thurrock as one of the Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services’ first new inspections because we were keen to visit a range of different types of out-of-hours provider

Our inspection team included a CQC inspectors and a GP. Before our inspection we carried out an analysis of data from our Intelligent Monitoring system. This did not highlight areas of risk across the five key question areas.

The inspection team spent eight hours visiting the out–of-hours service and visited the service’s primary care centre at Thurrock Community Hospital. We spoke with two patients and six staff. Both the patients we talked with at SEEDS Thurrock were very positive about the care they received. Staff told us that they felt proud to work at the service. There was a positive sense of community, with high levels of support. The feedback received from patients and the public throughout the inspection was consistent with this.

The service was well-managed and benefited from a stable staff team, clear governance and experienced board. This supported the high level of staff engagement and staff satisfaction.  We observed call handlers dealing with patients sensitively and politely.  There was an effective process for passing patients’ details to the duty doctor and for monitoring the progress of patients through the process.

There were good processes in place to store and manage medicines. These helped to protect people from the risks associated with the use of medicines. 

The provider regularly met with commissioners and providers of primary medical services to discuss capacity issues and possible service improvements. The provider had been proactive and cooperative in discussions about how to reduce the pressures on the local accident and emergency department.

However, the provider had not carried out Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) or Baring and Disclosure Service (BDS) checks on doctors employed by SEEDS who were not part of the co-operative.  Nor had they obtained external references for any of the doctors not already known to the co-operative. Therefore, there was a risk that unsuitable doctors may be employed by the service to deliver patient care.

The provider submitted an action plan, to us, in May 2014 detailing how they intended to achieve compliance by June 2014. 

We conducted a follow up desk based review of information and spoke with staff to assess if the provider had met the regulations. We found that SEEDS had reviewed its recruitment policy following our inspection and introduced mandatory DBS checks for all their staff. They maintained a central database of all staff details and ensured all mandatory checks had been conducted prior to staff commencing their employment.

12th February 2014

During a routine inspection

South Essex Emergency Doctors Service (SEEDS) is a co-operative of local GPs based at Thurrock Community Hospital. They are responsible for out-of-hours primary care when GP surgeries are closed and cover a population of 154,000. One primary care centre is at the Thurrock community Hospital and the other is in the children’s outpatients department at Basildon Hospital. This report only relates to the Thurrock Community Hospital location. There is a separate report for the Basildon Hospital location.

We chose to inspect SEEDS Thurrock as one of the Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services’ first new inspections because we were keen to visit a range of different types of out-of-hours provider

Our inspection team included a CQC inspectors and a GP. Before our inspection we carried out an analysis of data from our Intelligent Monitoring system. This did not highlight areas of risk across the five key question areas.

The inspection team spent eight hours visiting the out–of-hours service and visited the service’s primary care centre at Thurrock Community Hospital. We spoke with two patients and six staff. Both the patients we talked with at SEEDS Thurrock were very positive about the care they received. Staff told us that they felt proud to work at the service. There was a positive sense of community, with high levels of support. The feedback received from patients and the public throughout the inspection was consistent with this.

The service was well-managed and benefited from a stable staff team, clear governance and experienced board. This supported the high level of staff engagement and staff satisfaction.  We observed call handlers dealing with patients sensitively and politely.  There was an effective process for passing patients’ details to the duty doctor and for monitoring the progress of patients through the process.

There were good processes in place to store and manage medicines. These helped to protect people from the risks associated with the use of medicines. 

The provider regularly met with commissioners and providers of primary medical services to discuss capacity issues and possible service improvements. The provider had been proactive and cooperative in discussions about how to reduce the pressures on the local accident and emergency department.

However, the provider had not carried out criminal records bureau (CRB) or disclosure and barring service (DBS) checks on doctors employed by SEEDS who were not members of the co-operative. Nor had it obtained references for any of the doctors not already known to the co-operative. This meant there was a risk that unsuitable doctors might be employed by the service to deliver patient care.

During a check to make sure that the improvements required had been made

This inspection was carried out to check that action had been taken with regards to concerns raised by the Care Quality Commission in December 2012 and May 2013 around recruitment checks, supporting staff through appraisal practices; and that adequate monitoring systems were in place.

We found that improvements had been made by South Essex Emergency Doctor services, to show that all staff were recruited and supported appropriately and that these processes were monitored adequately. The registered manager submitted a written declaration to show that actions had now been taken to ensure all staff files, appraisals and monitoring systems were fully compliant with Health & Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010 by June 17 2013.

We had no concerns regarding care and welfare. We saw at the inspection in May 2013 that people experienced care, treatment and support that met their needs and protected their rights. We have received no notifications or complaints since that time to indicate any changes in practice.

21 May 2013

During a routine inspection

This inspection was carried out to check that action had been taken with regards to concerns raised by the Care Quality Commission in December 2012 around recruitment checks, supporting staff through appraisal practices, and that adequate monitoring systems were in place.

We found that whilst some improvements had been made by South Essex Emergency Doctor services, further work was required to show that all staff were recruited and supported appropriately and that these processes were monitored adequately. This means the provider was still not fully compliant which is a concern. It was agreed with the registered manager during the inspection that actions would now be taken in a timely manner to ensure all staff files, appraisals and monitoring systems were fully compliant with Health & Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010 by June 17 2013. We will check at that time that appropriate action has been taken to ensure that South Essex Emergency Doctor Services are fully compliant with the regulations.

We had no concerns regarding care and welfare. We saw that people experienced care, treatment and support that met their needs and protected their rights.

19 December 2012

During a routine inspection

We haven't been able to speak to people using the service because they were not available during the inspection. We gathered evidence of people's experiences of the service by reviewing satisfaction survey outcomes, electronic records and the complaints log. We found that overall the latest reports showed an adequate rate of satisfaction amongst people who have used the service.

There were monitoring systems in place to ensure people were seen in a timely manner and doctors and staff were positive about the quality of service provided which was supported by the lack of written complaints received. Written Information provision should be developed and the provider needs to develop the recruitment checks and appraisal system for non clinical staff to ensure all workers are trained appropriately and supported to provide care to people.