Background to this inspection
Updated
5 December 2018
Attleborough Surgeries provides primary medical services to approximately 18,400 patients from two sites in Attleborough, Norfolk as a member practice of the NHS South Norfolk Clinical Commissioning Group. Both sites dispense medicines to eligible practice patients.
There are four male and three female GP partners at the practice with one male and one female salaried GP. There are four nurse practitioners, six practice nurses, an advanced care practitioner and five healthcare assistants. A team of 11 dispensary trained staff support the dispensary manager in the dispensing of medicines. A team of administration and reception staff support the practice manager, finance manager and assistant practice manager.
The practice is open between 8.30am and 6pm Monday to Friday. The practice closes between midday and 2pm on a Wednesday. During this time, a duty GP is available.
The practice offers extended hours from 7am on Tuesday and Friday mornings and from 6.30pm until 7.30pm on Wednesday evenings. If the practice is closed, patients are asked to call the NHS111 service or to dial 999 in the event of a life-threatening emergency. Out of hours services are provided by Integrated Care 24.
The practice has a lower number of patients aged 20 to 44 years and a higher number of patients aged over 55 to 89 years than the practice average across England.
Unemployment in the practice population is higher than the England average. Income deprivation affecting both children and older people was lower than the England average. Male and female life expectancy in this area is in line with the England average at 80 years for men and 83 years for women.
The practice is registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide the regulated activities of; treatment of disease disorder and injury, surgical procedures, diagnostic and screening procedures maternity and midwifery services and family planning.
Updated
5 December 2018
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Attleborough Surgeries on 4 April 2018. The overall rating for the practice was good, with a requires improvement rating for providing safe services. We issued a requirement notice against regulation 12 of the Health and Social Care Act Regulations 2014, as the practice did not have effective systems for managing the risk of legionella bacteria contamination in the water supply, systems for managing the security of blank prescription stationary were not effective and some staff had not received up to date training for basic life support.
We also identified areas the practice could improve including the security of the dispensary, the systems for managing near misses, and the systems used to monitor and record staff training.
The full comprehensive report on the April 2018 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Attleborough Surgeries on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
This inspection was an announced focused inspection carried out on 1 November 2018 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 in our previous inspection on 4 April 2018.
This report covers our findings in relation to those requirements and additional improvements made since our last inspection.
Overall the practice is now rated as good, with a good rating for providing safe services.
At this inspection we found:
- The systems and processes were reviewed and improved to effectively manage the risk of legionella bacteria contamination in water systems.
- All staff were up to date with mandatory training including basic life support and the practice had introduced a colour coded system to record and monitor training and requirements.
- The practice reviewed and improved the systems for managing prescription stationery including the safe and secure storage and distribution which was managed through the dispensary.
- The practice had also reviewed and improved the security of the dispensary by limiting access to authorised personnel and installing new coded locks.
Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice
Please refer to the detailed report and the evidence tables for further information.