The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

Newtons Practice

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

The Health Centre, Heath Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH16 3BB (01444) 412280

Provided and run by:
Newtons Practice

All Inspections

6 July 2023

During a monthly review of our data

We carried out a review of the data available to us about Newtons Practice 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 Newtons Practice, you can give feedback on this service.

20 June 2022

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out an announced review at Newtons Practice on 20 June 2022. Overall, the practice is rated as Good.

Following our previous inspection on 5 July 2021, the practice was rated Good overall and requires improvement for providing safe services. Previous ratings for providing effective, responsive, caring and well-led services were carried over from the previous inspection in July 2019.

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

Why we carried out this review

This review was carried out to follow up on an outstanding breach of regulation in relation to which a warning notice was served following our last review :

There was an outstanding breach of Regulation 12 Health and Social Care Act (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 Safe care and treatment.

The provider had not ensured the proper and safe management of medicines. In particular, they had not ensured patients prescribed high risk medicines received blood tests in line with national clinical guidelines.

The provider was also asked to review and improve the recording of authorisations on patient group directions (PGDs). A Patient Group Direction (PGD) is a written instruction for the administration of medicines to groups of patients who may not be individually identified before presentation for treatment. For example, seasonal and other types of vaccination.

How we carried out the review

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 reviews differently.

This review was carried out in a way which enabled us to review information remotely. We did not visit the service as part of our review. 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

Our findings

We based our judgement of the quality of care at this service on a combination of:

  • what we found from our review
  • information from our ongoing monitoring of data about services and
  • information from the provider.

We have rated this practice as Good for providing safe services.

We found that:

  • The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm. For example, the practice had taken steps to ensure high risk medicines were monitored in accordance with national guidelines.
  • Staff were supported by up to date PGDs. We found that PGDs had been signed by all required staff prior to the sign off by the authorising manager. There was now a system to revisit this procedure when new staff signed the authorisation sheet.

Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

Chief Inspector of Hospitals and Interim Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services

05 July 2021

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out an announced review at Newtons Practice on 5 July 2021.

Following our previous inspection on 9 July 2019, the practice was rated Good overall and for providing effective, responsive, caring and well-led services but requires improvement for providing safe services.

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

Why we carried out this review

This review was a follow-up review of information without undertaking a site visit inspection to follow up on:

The outstanding breach of regulation 12 Health and Social Care Act (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014; Safe care and treatment:

The provider did not ensure the proper and safe management of medicines. In particular, they had not ensured patients prescribed high risk medicines received blood tests in line with national clinical guidelines.

We also found that safety alerts and the actions to respond to them were not always documented

The provider was also asked to review and improve the recording of authorisations on patient group directions (PGDs). A Patient Group Direction (PGD) is a written instruction for the administration of medicines to groups of patients who may not be individually identified before presentation for treatment. For example, seasonal and other types of vaccination.

How we carried out the review

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 reviews differently.

This review was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend no 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

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

We found that:

  • The practice provided care in a way that did not keep patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm. For example, high risk medicines were not always monitored in accordance with national guidelines.
  • The practice had a system to record alerts on medicines, medical devices and medicine supply issues. This allowed the practice to track their responses to these alerts where appropriate.
  • Staff were supported by up to date PGDs. However, we found that not all of the PGDs had been signed by all of the staff prior to the sign off by the authorising manager. There was no system to revisit this procedure when new staff signed the authorisation sheet.

We found one breach of regulations. The provider must:

  • Ensure care and treatment must be provided in a safe way.

The provider should:

The provider was also asked to review and improve the recording of authorizations on PGDs

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

9 July 2019 to 19 July 2019

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Newtons Practice on 9 July 2019 as part of our inspection programme.

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 and good for all population groups.

We rated the practice as requires improvement for providing safe services because the provider had not always ensured high risk medicines were monitored in line with national guidelines.

We found that:

  • The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm. However they did not always ensure high risk medicines were monitored in line with guidelines.
  • 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.
  • There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management.
  • Staff worked well together as a team and all felt supported to carry out their roles. There was a strong team ethos and culture of working together. Staff received access to training and support to develop their skills
  • The practice had utilised the care coordinator role to good effect in the practice supporting patients with complex health and social care needs.

The areas where the provider must make improvements are:

• 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).

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Review and improve the recording of authorisations on PGDs.

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

23 June 2017

During an inspection looking at part of the service

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

When we visited Newtons Practice on 30 August 2016 to carry out a comprehensive inspection we rated them as requires improvement overall. We found breaches in the regulations relating to safe and well-led services, and we told the practice they must:

  • Ensure that medicines fridges are kept secure at all times.
  • Ensure that health care assistants who carry out vaccines and immunisations do so under a clear authorisation which is maintained on record.
  • Ensure a record of cleaning clinical areas and equipment is maintained to support infection control audits.
  • Ensure that the feedback from patients and other stakeholders is managed and responded to.

We also said the practice should;

  • Review and continue to take action to identify carers who are patients at their practice.
  • Keep minutes of the regular nurse meetings to assist with future training, development and any quality assurance audits.
  • Review the records maintained for staff training to ensure they are up to date.

This inspection was an announced focused inspection carried out on 23 June 2017 to confirm that the practice had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breaches in regulations that we identified at our previous inspection. This report covers our findings in relation to those requirements and also additional improvements made since our last inspection. This report should be read in conjunction with the full report of our inspection on 30 August 2016, which can be found on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

The practice is now rated as good overall and good for the provision of safe and well-led services.

Our key findings were as follows:

We saw one area where the provider should make improvement:

  • The provider should review and continue to take action to identify carers who are patients at their practice.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

30 August 2016

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Newtons Practice on 30 August 2016. Overall the practice is rated as requires improvement.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

  • Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
  • 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.
  • There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
  • Risks to patients were not always assessed and well managed.
  • 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 sought feedback from staff and patients; however it was not always acted on.
  • The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.
  • Medicine management practices did not always keep patients safe.

The areas where the provider must make improvement are:

  • The provider must ensure that medicines fridges are kept secure at all times.
  • The provider must ensure that healthcare assistants who carry out vaccines and immunisations do so under a clear authorisation which is maintained on record.
  • The provider must ensure a record of cleaning clinical areas and equipment is maintained to support infection control audits.
  • The provider must ensure that the feedback from patients and other stakeholders is managed and responded to.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

  • The provider should review and continue to take action to identify carers who are patients at their practice.
  • The provider should keep minutes of the regular nurse meetings to assist with future training, development and any quality assurance audits.
  • The provider should review the records maintained for staff training to ensure they are up to date.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice