• Doctor
  • GP practice

Park Royal Medical Practice

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Central Middlesex Hospital, Ground Floor, Acton Lane, London, NW10 7NS (020) 8961 1183

Provided and run by:
Harness Care Ltd

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

Date of Assessment: 28/04/26 to 30/04/26. Park Royal Medical Practice is a GP practice, delivering services to 8,860 registered patients under an Alternative Provider Medical Services (APMS) contract held with NHS England. The National General Practice Profiles show that the practice has a relatively high proportion of working age patients and is ethnically diverse. Information published by Office for Health Improvement and Disparities shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the 2nd decile (2 of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice population is relative to others. This assessment considered the demographics of the people using the service, the context the service was working within and how this impacted service delivery. Where relevant, further commentary is provided in the quality statements section of this report.

 

This assessment was a focused assessment to review a breach of Regulation 19 (Fit and proper persons employed), and the following 4 quality statements: Safe effective staffing; Monitoring outcomes; Freedom to speak up; and Governance, management, and sustainability.

 

SAFE: The service had a good learning culture and people could raise concerns. Staff understood and managed risks. There were enough staff with the right skills, qualifications and experience. Managers made sure staff received training and regular appraisals to maintain high-quality care.

EFFECTIVE: People were involved in assessments of their needs. Staff reviewed assessments taking account of people’s communication, personal and health needs. Staff worked with all agencies involved in people’s care for the best outcomes. Staff made sure people understood their care and treatment to enable them to give informed consent.

WELL-LED: Leaders were visible, knowledgeable and supportive, helping staff develop in their roles. Staff felt supported to give feedback and were notified of the outcomes and actions taken in response to their comments. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities. Managers worked with the local community to deliver the best possible care and were receptive to new ideas. There was a culture of continuous improvement.

Since the last inspection, the practice had made improvements and is no longer in breach of Regulation 19 (Fit and proper persons employed).

During an assessment under our new approach

Date of Assessment: 06/03/25 to 11/03/25. Park Royal Medical Practice is a GP practice, delivering services to 9,000 registered patients under an Alternative Provider Medical Services (APMS) contract held with NHS England. The National General Practice Profiles show that the practice has a relatively high proportion of working age patients and is ethnically diverse. Information published by Office for Health Improvement and Disparities shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the 2nd decile (2 of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice population is relative to others. This assessment considered the demographics of the people using the service, the context the service was working within and how this impacted service delivery. Where relevant, further commentary is provided in the quality statements section of this report.

 

The service had a good learning culture and people could raise concerns. Managers investigated incidents thoroughly. People were protected and kept safe. Staff understood and managed risks. The facilities and equipment met the needs of people, were clean and well-maintained and any risks mitigated. Staff managed medicines well and involved people in planning any changes. There were enough staff with the right skills and experience, however we identified shortfalls in the recruitment procedures and monitoring of training for locum staff.

 

People were involved in assessments of their needs. Staff reviewed assessments taking account of people’s communication, personal and health needs. Care was based on latest evidence and good practice. Staff worked with all agencies involved in people’s care for the best outcomes and smooth transitions when moving between services. Staff made sure people understood their care and treatment to enable them to give informed consent.

 

People were involved in decisions about their care. The service provided information people could understand. People knew how to give feedback and were confident the service took it seriously and acted on it. The service was easy to access and worked to eliminate discrimination. People received fair and equal care and treatment. The service worked to reduce health and care inequalities through training and feedback. People were involved in planning their care and understood options around choosing to withdraw or not receive care.

 

Leaders and staff had a shared vision and culture based on listening, learning and trust. Leaders were knowledgeable and supportive, helping staff develop in their roles. Staff felt supported to give feedback but were not always notified of the outcomes and actions taken in response to their comments. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities; however, some staff were unclear on the roles and responsibilities of the senior leadership team. Managers worked with the local community to deliver the best possible care and were receptive to new ideas. There was a culture of continuous improvement with staff given time and resources to try new ideas.

 

Since the last inspection, the practice had made improvements to medicines management and is no longer in breach of Regulation 12 (Safe care and treatment). However, we found a breach of Regulation 19 (Fit and proper persons employed). We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.

07 October 2021

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced inspection at Park Royal Medical Practice on 7 October 2021. Overall, the practice is rated as requires improvement.

Safe - Requires improvement.

Effective - Good

Caring - Good

Responsive - Good

Well-led - Requires improvement.

Following our previous inspection on 30 April 2019, the practice was rated requires improvement overall and for the key questions safe, effective and well-led but good for providing caring and responsive services.

The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Park Royal Medical Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Why we carried out this inspection

This inspection was a comprehensive inspection to follow up on breaches of regulation and areas of concern identified at our previous inspection. We looked at all five key questions.

How we carried out the inspection

Throughout the pandemic CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, taking into account the circumstances arising as a result of the pandemic, and in order to reduce risk, we have conducted our inspections differently.

This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site. This was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements.

This included:

  • Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing.
  • Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system and discussing findings with the provider.
  • Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider.
  • Requesting evidence from the provider.
  • A short site visit.

Our findings

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.
  • Information from the provider, patients, the public and other organisations.

We have rated this practice as Requires Improvement overall.

We found that:

  • The practice had clear systems, practices and processes to keep people safe and safeguarded from abuse.
  • The practice had systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. However, the systems for the appropriate and safe use of medicines were not always effective and required improvement.
  • 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 had attempted to address areas of low satisfaction by offering staff training.
  • The practice adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. The practice premises had been used as a vaccination centre for the locality since December 2020.
  • The practice had identified telephone access as an area of low patient satisfaction and had made improvements so that patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
  • The practice was under new management since the last inspection in 2019. Leaders had a realistic strategy to achieve most key priorities. However, there were not always clear and effective processes for managing risks.

We found a breach of regulations. The provider must:

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

(Please see the specific details on action required at the end of this report).

In addition to the above, the practice should:

  • Continue to review patient and staff feedback and engage with the PPG in relation to access and customer service at reception.

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

30 April 2019

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Park Royal Medical Practice on 30 April 2019.

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 requires improvement overall.

We rated the practice as requires improvement for providing safe services because:

  • The practice did not have clear systems and processes to keep patients safe.
  • The practice had limited safeguarding systems in place to ensure that children and vulnerable adults are reviewed regularly.
  • The practice did not have appropriate systems in place for the safe management of test results.
  • The practice did not have appropriate systems in place for the safe management of medicines including controlled drugs.
  • The practice was unable to demonstrate they had audited all prescribers within the practice.

We rated the practice as requires improvement for providing effective services because:

  • There was limited monitoring of the outcomes of care and treatment.
  • The practice was unable to demonstrate that staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to carry out their roles.
  • Patient outcomes were hard to identify as limited clinical audits had been carried out to improve the quality of care. There was limited evidence that the practice was comparing its performance to others; either locally or nationally.
  • Some performance data was below local and national averages.

We rated the practice as requires improvement for providing well-led services because:

  • While the practice had a clear vision, that vision was not supported by a credible strategy.
  • The practice culture did not effectively support high quality sustainable care.
  • The overall governance arrangements were ineffective.
  • The practice did not have formal succession plans in place for when senior members of staff plan to retire.
  • The practice did not have clear and effective processes for managing risks, issues and performance.
  • The practice did not always act on appropriate and accurate information.

These areas affected all population groups so we rated all population groups as requires improvement .

We rated the practice as good for providing caring and responsive services because:

  • Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.

The areas where the provider must make improvements are:

  • Ensure that care and treatment is provided in a safe way.
  • Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care.

(Please see the specific details on action required at the end of this report).

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

  • Improve the identification of carers to enable this group of patients to access the care and support they need.
  • Ensure that information regarding interpreter services, for patients whose first language is not English, is displayed prominently.
  • Ensure that all staff including practice nurses have annual appraisals.
  • Ensure information regarding how to make a complaint is easily accessible for patients.
  • Ensure practice policies are reviewed and updated regularly.
  • Ensure non-clinical staff undertake basic life support training regularly.

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