Background to this inspection
Updated
7 May 2019
Dr Mathibalasingham Chandrakumar is located at Sun Lane Surgery, 5 Sun Lane, Hythe, Kent CT21 5J
The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the Regulated Activities; diagnostic and screening procedures and treatment of disease, disorder or injury.
Dr Mathibalasingham Chandrakumar is situated within the NHS South Kent Coast CCG and provides services to approximately 5,100 patients under the terms of a general medical services (GMS) contract. This is a contract between general practices and NHS England for delivering services to the local community.
The provider is a sole practitioner. There are three doctors, the principal and two salaried GPs. All are male. The practice was registered with the CQC in April 2013. There are two nurses, both female. The practice is part of the South Kent Coast GP Federation a wider network of GP practices. The practice has a team of reception, administration and management staff. The practice age profile is older than that nationally.
The number of patients between the ages of 65 years and 85 years is twice that nationally. The number of patients over the age of 85 is two and a half times that nationally. The percentage of people in employment in the practice area is approximately fifty percent compared with sixty two percent nationally. The National General Practice Profile states that ninety seven percent of the practice population are white. Information published by Public Health England, rates the level of deprivation within the practice population group as seven, on a scale of one to ten, where level one represents the highest levels of deprivation.
Updated
7 May 2019
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr Mathibalasingham Chandrakumar on 18 March 2019 as part of our inspection programme.
At the last inspection in May 2018 we rated the practice as inadequate. The practice was placed in special measures because:
• The practice did not have clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen.
• The practice did not have an effective system to manage infection prevention and control.
• The practice did not have a systematic approach for health and safety audits.
• The practice did not have reliable systems for appropriate and safe handling of medicines.
• Clinical audits did not include measurable outcomes, nor were they effectively used to drive quality improvement.
• Not all leaders were visible in the practice and there was a lack of oversight in areas such as clinical governance, risk assessments recruitment and future planning.
At this inspection, we found that the provider had satisfactorily addressed these areas.
We based our judgement of the quality of care at this service on a combination of:
• What we found when we inspected
• Information from our ongoing monitoring of data about services and
• Information from the provider, patients, the public and other organisations.
We have rated this practice as good overall. We rated it as good for its treatment of all the population groups, with the exception of people with long term conditions for which it is rated as requires improvement.
We found that:
• The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
• Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
• Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
• The practice organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
• The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.
Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:
• Improve the identification of carers to enable this group of patients to access the care and support they need.
As a result of the improvements made the practice has been re rated and removed from special measures.
Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.
Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP
Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care