16 September 2016
During a routine inspection
Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr Borg-Bartolo and Partners (also known as Millennium Medical Centre) on 16 September 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.
Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:
- 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 in most cases assessed and well managed.
- 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.
- Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
- Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand. Any learning was shared however, the practice did not routinely make use of verbal complaints to identify trends and potential for service improvement.
- Patients did not always find it easy to get through to the practice to make an appointment, however we saw that the practice had made improvements in this area and urgent appointments were 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 proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
- The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.
The areas where the provider should make improvement are:
- Identify a lead responsible for infection control to ensure it is given sufficient attention within the practice.
- Ensure actions following risk assessments are clearly identified and addressed.
- Review fire evacuation arrangements for patients accessing treatment rooms on the first floor who may need assistance.
- Review systems for monitoring staff training to ensure essential training is kept up to date.
- Identify systems for recording informal verbal complaints in order to identify trends and potential service improvements.
- Continue to monitor and ensure improvement to patient survey results including access to appointments.
Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)
Chief Inspector of General Practice