We carried out a review of the data available to us about Little London 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 Little London Surgery, you can give feedback on this service.
We carried out a focussed inspection at Little London Surgery on 8 September 2016.
The practice had previously been inspected in November 2015 and was rated as requires improvement for providing safe services and good for responsive. At this time we identitied a breach of regulation around safe care and treatment. This was because the provider did not keep records to reflect the appropriate management of the cold chain (the safe storage and handling of vaccinations). Additionally, records were not in place to support that risk was effectively managed in the absence of disclosure and barring service (DBS) checks for staff and for specific risks associated with health, safety and infection control. During the previous inspection the practice had not reviewed the 2015 national GP patient servey in order to consider whether improvements were needed to improve patients’ experience of the service.
Following the inspection the practice sent us an action plan detailing the actions they were going to take to improve.
We carried out a focused inspection to check whether the provider had made improvements in line with our recommendations and to ensure regulations are now met. This report only covers our findings in relation to those requirements. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Little London Surgery on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
We found that during our inspection on 8 September 2016, the practice had improved systems and we found the following key findings:
Risks associated with health, safety and infection control were effectively assessed and well managed. There were adequate arrangements in place to respond to emergencies and major incidents.
The practice had systems in place to effectively monitor and audit their processes, including patient correspondence and risk management systems
Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGPChief Inspector of General Practice
Chief Inspector of General Practice
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Little London Surgery on 24 November 2015 and 1 December 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.
Specifically, we found the practice to require improvement for providing safe and effective services. We found the practice to be rated good for providing caring, effective, responsive and well led services.
Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:
Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise safety concerns, and to report incidents and near misses. Risks to patients were assessed and managed, with the exception of the system for monitoring the temperature of vaccinations, risks associated with staff who do not have a disclosure and barring service (DBS) check in place, legionella and fire.
Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they had confidence and trust in the GPs and nurses.
The practice was responsive to the needs of its local population and services were planned and delivered to take into account the needs of different patient groups. Access to routine appointments and getting through to the practice by telephone were areas for ongoing improvement which the practice had identified and were addressing.
There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The practice sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
However, there were areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.
The areas where the provider must make improvement are:
Have robust governance systems in place for the management of risks to patients and others against inappropriate or unsafe care. This must include assessing and managing risks in relation to the storage of vaccines, legionella and fire safety.
Carry out a risk assessment for all staff who undertake chaperoning duties in the absence of a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.
The areas where the provider should make improvement are:
Review the results of the 2015 national GP patient survey and consider whether improvements are needed to improve patients’ experience of the service.
Develop system to monitor and record staff training and recruitment records so that training needs and updates can be easily identified and acted on.
Consider the availability of emergency drugs.
Should continue to audit the system in place for reviewing correspondence relating to patients care and treatment and for assurance that patients who required a follow up of their blood test had received one.
Chief Inspector of General Practice
Generally the patients we spoke with were complimentary about the service provided by the administration and reception staff. Patient's voiced concerns about the appointment system. We saw from minutes of meetings that work was underway to identify ways of improving the system. A new telephone and triage system was being introduced in March 2014.
Most of the patients told us that they received care, treatment and support that met their needs, particularly when they saw their preferred GPs. We found that most patients had a preference to which GP they saw. One patient said: 'The doctors listen to me. They asked about my history asked how I was getting on. They gave me advice regarding exercise and an exercise sheet'.
Patients were invited to comment on the quality of the service through the national patients' satisfaction survey, the complaints procedure and a suggestion box. There was a patient participation groups (PPGs) working with the practice to continue to improve the service provided to patients.