We carried out a review of the data available to us about Riversdale Surgery on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Riversdale Surgery, you can give feedback on this service.
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Riversdale Surgery on 15 November 2016. The overall rating for the practice was good. However, we rated the practice as requires improvement for providing safe services. The full comprehensive report on the November 2016 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Riversdale Surgery on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
We carried out an announced focused inspection on 30 May 2017, to confirm the practice had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirement in relation to the breach in regulation that we had identified in our inspection, on 15 November 2016. This report covers our findings in relation to that requirement.
Overall the practice is rated as good. Our key findings from this inspection were as follows:
The provider had complied with the requirement notice we set following our previous inspection visit. In particular, we found that there were suitable arrangements for the proper and safe management of medicines, and these helped to make sure care and treatment was provided to patients in a safe way.
Chief Inspector of General Practice
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at the Riversdale Surgery on 15 November 2016. Overall, the practice is rated as good.
We found the practice had made a number of improvements since our previous inspection, on 29 July 2015, when they were rated as requires improvement. Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:
Staff had taken action to address the concerns we had previously identified regarding the lack of governance in relation to the management of potential health and safety risks, and a failure to ensure staff had completed appropriate training. However, during this inspection, we found the arrangements for managing medicines were not always effective. Otherwise, all other risks to patients’ safety were effectively managed.
There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system for reporting and recording significant events.
Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Services were tailored to meet the individual needs of patients and were delivered in a way that ensured flexibility, choice and continuity of care.
Clinical staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
The practice used the information collected for the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), and their performance against national screening programmes, to monitor and improve outcomes for patients. The QOF data, for 2014/15, showed the practice had performed very well in obtaining 99.6% of the total points available to them, for providing recommended care and treatment. (Just before we published this report, the QOF data for 2015/16 was released. This showed that the practice had achieved an equally good QOF performance, with an overall achievement of 99.3% compared to the local Clinical Commissioning Group average of 98.2% and the national average of 95.3%.)
There was a strong patient-centred culture. Patients were treated with compassion, dignity and respect.
The practice and its branch surgery had good facilities and were well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
Clinical leadership encouraged openness and transparency, and promoted an open culture, where staff felt well supported.
We saw one area of outstanding practice:
The areas where the provider must make improvements are:
Ensure medicines are managed safely and appropriately. Specifically, make sure there are rigorous systems in place for ensuring:
Patient Specific Directives and Patient Group Directions are used in line with national guidance.
Staff follow the practice’s policy regarding the storage of medicines at the required temperatures.
Prescription pads are stored securely in line with national guidance.
However, there were also areas where the provider should make improvements. The provider should:
Record all dispensing ‘near-misses’, including those highlighted by the accuracy checking scanner used as part of the dispensing process.
Improve how the practice identifies patients who are also carers.
Chief Inspector of General Practice
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Riversdale surgery on 29 July 2015. The practice has a main surgery, Riversdale Surgery at Wylam and a branch surgery, Oaklands Medical Centre at Prudhoe. We visited both of these locations as part of the inspection. Specifically, we found the practice to require improvement for providing safe and effective services and for being well led. They were rated as good for providing caring and responsive services.
Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:
However, there were also areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.
Importantly, the provider must:
In addition the provider should:
Chief Inspector of General Practice
People were protected from the risk of infection because appropriate guidance had been followed.
People who use the service were protected from the risk of abuse, because the provider had taken reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening.
People were protected against the risks associated with medicines because the provider had appropriate arrangements in place to manage medicines.
The provider had in place a recruitment policy and people were cared for, or supported by, suitably qualified, skilled and experienced staff.