Archived: The Surgery

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 24 September 2018 to ask the service the following key questions; Are services safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led?

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.

The provider, which is Henmore Health Limited, is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to provide services at The Surgery, Clifton Road, Ashbourne, Derbyshire, DE6 1RR. There is also a branch site at Wolverhampton, we did not visit the branch site as part of this inspection.

Henmore Health Limited provides community-based mental health services and private GP services. Henmore Health Limited is wholly owned by the partners and practice manager of Drs Broom and Partners and operates out of the same building. As a service it directly employs clinicians and a business manager but also draws on the staff of Drs Broom and Partners for administrative and reception support.

Services have been provided to patients since 2017. It is registered with the CQC to provide four regulated activities which are diagnostic and screening services; family planning services; treatment of disease, disorder and injury; and surgical procedures.

The office opening hours are Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm. Clinical sessions are available throughout the week at different times according to the specialty.

Mental health practitioners are available in Wolverhampton on a Monday and at the main site in Ashbourne on a Tuesday and Wednesday. Their appointments are between 8am to 6.30pm.

Private GP appointments total one full session a week for three weeks a month. Times are flexible depending on patient need.

The service currently only takes self-referring, private patients over the age of 18. All clinical sessions are provided within a GP practice. Adequate parking is available for patients at each location.

Henmore Health has a clinical director, who is also the sole GP providing private GP appointments for the service, and two mental health practitioners. They are supported by a practice manager, a business manager and the administrative and reception staff of the host surgery when required.

The clinical director is the registered manager, and this GP is also one of the four directors of Henmore Health Limited. 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.

Our key findings were:

• The service provided prompt and easy access to the services it provided for patients.
• We received eight CQC comment cards from patients about this service. The patients’ responses were entirely positive about their experiences at the service. Comments indicated the service was highly valued by patients who had received treatments, that patients felt staff were very friendly and courteous, they felt listened to and their questions were answered in a way which was easy to understand, as well as being treated with dignity and respect.
• Directors and managers spoke with passion about the service and their commitment to deliver a service to meet the needs of their patients. There was a clear vision to ensure patients left their appointment better than they arrived at every stage of their treatment.
• Patients making informed decisions was key to the way in which the service provided private treatments and every effort was made to ensure appointments represented value and would have a positive effect on the patient.
• The service provided mental health treatment to 12 patients referred from The Bridge charity, free of charge, to assist in the recovery of former servicemen and women.
• There was effective management of significant events. The service had a low threshold to record incidents to ensure everything was captured and learning opportunities maximised.
• The clinical staff used evidence-based guidance to ensure appropriate and effective treatment and advice was given to patients.
• Staff told us there was an open and inclusive culture of management and felt their views were listened to.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice