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Archived: Woodside Group Practice

Overall: Requires improvement read more about inspection ratings

Woodside Health Centre, 3 Enmore Road, South Norwood, London, SE25 5NT (020) 8274 6969

Provided and run by:
Woodside Group Practice

All Inspections

02 September 2015

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Woodside Group Practice on 02 September 2015. Overall the practice is rated as requires improvement.

We previously inspected Woodside Group Practice in October 2014, and rated it overall as inadequate. The practice was found inadequate for providing safe, effective, responsive and well-led services. They were rated good for providing caring services.

Please note that when referring to information throughout this report, for example any reference to the Quality and Outcomes Framework data, this relates to the most recent information available to the CQC at that time.

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

  • We found the practice had made improvements since our last inspection on 06 October 2014 and they were meeting regulations relating to the protection of people against the risks of unsafe or inappropriate care, identifying, assessing and managing risks, the management of complaints, and the secure storage of paper based patient records. However, the improvements made were insufficient and on-going partnership issues were significantly impacting on the practice’s ability to provide effective and responsive care.

  • Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses. Information about safety was recorded, monitored, appropriately reviewed and addressed.

  • Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.

  • Data showed that clinical outcomes for patients with long-term conditions was below local and national averages and there had been a deterioration in QOF performance between 2013/2014 and 2014/2015. There was no action plan in place to address these shortfalls.

  • Clinical audits had been carried out and the practice was able to demonstrate they had led to improvements in some patients’ health outcomes.

  • Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect but respondents to the national GP survey stated they did not always feel involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.

  • Information about services provided was available; however information on the provider’s formal complaints process was not easily accessible to patients.

  • Urgent appointments were usually available on the day they were requested. However patients said that they sometimes had to wait a long time for non-urgent appointments, and they often experienced delays waiting to be seen for their booked appointments.

  • The practice had a number of policies and procedures to govern activity.

  • The practice had started holding meetings with various areas of focus, such as significant events, complaints reviews and multi-disciplinary clinical meetings, but these were not being held at the regularity the practice had planned.

Whilst the practice had made improvements since our last inspection, there are still areas where further improvements are needed. The provider must:

  • Ensure there are systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of services provided and mitigate against any risks, including the impact of the on-going partnership issues.

  • Review and improve the current telephone system and accessibility to ensure patients can access appointments in a timely manner.

  • Ensure plans are put in place to improve outcomes relating to asthma, chronic heart disease, chronic kidney disease, diabetes and flu vaccinations for at risk groups.

The provider should:

  • Ensure complaints information is readily available.

  • Ensure patients are involved in decisions about their care, and that treatments and tests are explained.

  • Ensure carers are identified and appropriately supported.

 The provider was rated as inadequate overall and for all population groups at our previous inspection in October 2014. At this inspection, we found that the provider had failed to make sufficient improvements in all areas and has been rated as inadequate for well-led and for patients with long-term conditions. Where a practice has previously been rated as inadequate and continues to be rated as inadequate for any key question or population group, they are placed into special measures. Therefore, we will place this provider into special measures. Being placed into special measures represents a decision by CQC that a practice has to improve within six months to avoid CQC taking steps to cancel the provider’s registration.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)

Chief Inspector of General Practice

6 October 2014

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

Woodside Group Practice, located in the South Norwood area of the London borough of Croydon provides a general practice service to just under 13,000 patients.

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 06 October 2014. The inspection took place over one day and was undertaken by a lead inspector, along with a GP advisor and a practice manager.

Overall the practice is rated as inadequate and improvements are required.

Our key findings were as follows:

The practice had an active Patient Participation Group (PPG) and worked with them to identify their concerns. Information was available for patients and the practice maintained an up to date website. Patients were treated with kindness and respect and felt involved in their care decisions. The practice followed safe staff recruitment procedures and appropriate infection control guidelines. Emergency equipment and medicines were available and premises and equipment used for patient care were maintained suitably.

However, there were also areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements. 

Importantly, the provider must:

  • Ensure significant events are recorded appropriately and discussed regularly. Ensure learning from incidents is identified and shared with all practice staff.
  • Review the complaints procedure to highlight patients’ rights in the NHS Constitution and the stages of the NHS complaints process including referral to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. Ensure a regular review of complaints takes place, learning is identified and issues addressed.
  • Ensure regular medication reviews of people requiring repeat prescriptions.
  • Ensure appropriate monitoring and review of the appointments system.
  • Ensure all paper based patient records are stored securely.

In addition, the provider should:

  • Ensure risk register is kept up to date, discussed formally and appropriate actions planned, recorded and undertaken.
  • Undertake review of the child protection register and regular child protection meetings.
  • Ensure relevant national guidance for example NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) guidelines are appropriately cascaded amongst staff and adapted accordingly.
  • Ensure learning from audits is shared and where applicable recommendations implemented.
  • Re-establish full team meetings open to all members of staff.
  • Ensure all staff including the practice manager receive an annual appraisal.
  • Ensure all patients with learning disability receive an annual health check.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice