We carried out a review of the data available to us about The Longcroft Clinic 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 The Longcroft Clinic, you can give feedback on this service.
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Longcroft Clinic . Overall the practice is rated as good.
Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:
Chief Inspector of General Practice
During this inspection we spoke with five members of staff including GPs, the practice manager, the practice nurse and reception staff.
We found that people were protected from abuse through the provision of suitable training of staff, the presence of clear policies and the availability of information to staff and people who used the service.
The provider had implemented processes to ensure people were protected from the risk of infection. Patients were cared for in a clean, hygienic environment. All staff had undergone infection control training appropriate to their role. Records of the Hepatitis B status of individual staff were maintained. The provider was able to demonstrate they had suitable arrangements in place to reduce the risks of exposure to legionella bacteria which is found in some water systems.
The provider had ensured that appropriate systems were in place to manage medicines. Records demonstrated that internal auditing to check the correct storage of medicines was carried out effectively.
The provider had taken steps to improve their recruitment processes. A revised recruitment policy had been developed and appropriate checks were undertaken before staff began work. Personnel records had been updated to include evidence that all staff had undergone criminal record checks via the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
Since our last inspection, the provider had implemented some processes to identify, assess and manage risks. However, the provider remained unable to demonstrate that risk assessments had been completed for areas such as control of substances hazardous to health (COSHH), moving and handling and health and safety within the environment. There was no evidence of a fire risk assessment relating to the premises.
Staff we spoke with did recognise what constituted 'abuse' and were able to tell us which services they would report any concerns to.
We looked at five staff files and found that four did not have a criminal record checks via the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). We saw that that no assessments had been carried out with regards to the potential risks involved in using staff without DBS clearance to undertake duties where they came into contact with vulnerable people and children.
We spoke with one of the staff members regarding their understanding of decontamination procedures in the surgery. The description for the decontamination processes was explained to us and was in line with Decontamination Guidelines; For example, wiping down all surfaces with alcohol based solutions, disposal of clinical waste and the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). One patient we spoke with told us "The place is always spotless". Another person said 'Yes, it always seems very clean'.
The provider was not able to demonstrate that they