The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

The Miller Practice

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

49 Highbury New Park, Highbury, London, N5 2ET (020) 7354 1972

Provided and run by:
The Miller Practice

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

Date of Assessment: 13 May 2026.

The Miller Practice is a general practice in Islington, which delivers services to approximately 9,200 patients under a contract held with NHS England. The practice is part of the Islington Central 2 Primary Care Network (PCN), working closely with 4 other local general practices. Islington is 1 of 5 boroughs covered by the North Central London Integrated Care System.

The Department of Health and Social Care National General Practice Profiles record that approximately 65% of the practice patients identify as White, with 35% identifying as being of Asian, Black, Mixed or Other ethnicities. Information published by Office for Health Improvement and Disparities shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the 6th decile (6th 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 practice, the context the practice was working within and how this impacted service delivery. Where relevant, further commentary is provided in the quality statements section of this report.

We last inspected and rated the practice under a previous methodology in July 2017. The overall rating for the practice was Good, as were the ratings for the five key questions, Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led.

We carried out this assessment using our new methodology as part of our Return to Good and Outstanding inspection programme, due to the length of time since our last assessment. The assessment focused on 10 of 34 quality statements covering the five key questions.

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.

We have again rated the overall practice and the five key questions as Good.

This assessment was included as part of a pilot which looked at new and innovative ways fulfilling CQC’s regulatory obligations. This was conducted with the consent of the practice and people we interviewed.

There were enough staff with the right skills, qualifications and experience. Staff supported people to live healthier lives, monitoring their care and treatment to ensure they received positive and consistent outcomes. Staff treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion, and respected their privacy and dignity. People could access care, treatment and support when they needed it. Leaders and staff were alert to discrimination and inequality that could disadvantage groups of people who used the service and sought ways to address any barriers. The practice had a clear vision and strategy, which considered the needs of the people who used their service and the wider community. Staff understood their individual roles and responsibilities. Leaders accounted for the actions, behaviours and performance of staff through clear and effective governance processes.

We noted some issues regarding the premises and aspects of Infection Prevention and Control matters, which we shall ask the practice to address in an action plan to effectively manage risks, pending a move to new premises.

12 July 2017

During an inspection looking at part of the service

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice


We previously carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Miller Practice on 14 October 2016. The overall rating for the practice was good. Within that overall rating the practice was rated as requires improvement for providing safe services. This was because it was not meeting legal requirements in relation to some aspects of:

  • Learning from significant events and patient safety alerts.

  • Legionella, hazardous substances, and fire safety.

  • Pre employment checks on staff.

  • Emergency medicines.

The full comprehensive report of the October 2016 inspection can be found at www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-542499627.

This inspection on 12 July 2017 was an announced focused inspection and was carried out to confirm that the practice had completed their plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breaches in regulations that we identified in our previous inspection on 14 October 2016. This report covers our findings in relation to those requirements.

Overall the practice is rated as good.

Our key findings were as follows:

  • The practice had put in place systems that provided assurance that action taken in light of a significant event prevented reoccurrence of the event, and that the practice had acted on patient safety alerts.

  • The practice was managing risks identified in its legionella and COSHH risk assessments. Legionella is a term for a particular bacterium which can contaminate water systems in buildings. The provider had put in place a fire safety policy.

  • The practice had put in place a system to ensure all the information required in respect of persons employed by the practice was maintained for staff recruited since the last inspection. It had also completed DBS checks on all non-clinical staff and had photographic proof of identity on record for all staff.

  • The practice had strengthened its system for maintaining the stock of emergency medicines.

The practice had also acted on recommendations we made at our previous inspection and implemented additional improvements:

  • The practice had reviewed its systems for complaints documentation, for example it was taking care to include information about the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman in all written responses to complaints.

  • A system for staff appraisal had been implemented to formalise arrangements for identifying and meeting staff development needs.

At our previous inspection on 14 October 2016 we rated the practice as requires improvement for providing safe services because actions following significant events and safety alerts were not being evaluated, not all risks to the health and safety of service users were being managed and mitigated, and there were gaps in the information the provider maintained in respect of some of the staff it employed. At this inspection we found these shortfalls had been remedied. Consequently, the practice is rated as good for providing safe services.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice

14 October 2016

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Miller Practice on 14 October 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.

  • There was an open and transparent approach to safety and reporting and recording of significant events, but some systems had not been evaluated to ensure effectiveness.
  • Risks to patients were assessed and were mostly well managed but there were gaps in areas such as Legionella testing and recruitment checks for non-clinical staff.
  • Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
  • Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
  • Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns.
  • Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
  • The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
  • There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
  • The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

The areas where the provider must make improvement are:

  • Ensure all necessary pre-employment checks for all staff.
  • Implement and evaluate safety actions following safety alerts and significant events.
  • Ensure risks to the health and safety of service users are managed and mitigated.

In addition the provider should:

  • Review systems for complaints documentation.
  • Implement a system for staff appraisal.
  • Ensure effective arrangements for the doctors bag emergency medicines.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice