We carried out an announced inspection at Dr Heath Prescot Medical Centre on 11 and 12 August 2021. Overall, the practice is rated as Good.
Safe - Good
Effective - Good
Caring - Good
Responsive - Good
Well-led - Good
Following our previous inspection on 29 November 2019 the practice was rated Requires Improvement overall and for providing safe and responsive services. Effective, caring and well-led key questions were rated Good.
The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Dr Heath Prescot on our website at www.cqc.org.uk
Why we carried out this inspection.
This inspection was a comprehensive follow-up and included a site visit.
Key questions inspected were safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.
Areas followed up included any breaches of regulations or ‘shoulds’ identified previously.
At the previous inspection in November 2021 we found:
- The practice did not have robust system in place to learn and make improvements when things went wrong.
- The practice did not have systems in place to keep medicine prescriptions safe and secure.
- The practice did not have systems in place to keep all personal information secure.
- Processes for receiving and dealing with complaints were not robust.
We found all previous breaches in regulations had been addressed.
We found improvements in all previous areas of concern as the practice had also reviewed and taken action to address the ‘shoulds’ identified at the previous inspection.
How we carried out the inspection
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 inspections differently.
This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of 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.
- Sending all staff a questionnaire which they could complete and return prior to and during the inspection period.
- Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system and discussing findings with the provider on 11 August 2021.
- Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider .
- Requesting evidence from the provider.
- A short site visit.
- Requesting the provider use their patient contact platform to inform them about the inspection and asking them to complete a Healthwatch/ CQC web-based questionnaire.
- Phone call to members of the Patient Participation Group.
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 have rated this practice as Good overall and for all population groups.
We found that:
- The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
- The practice had continued to support parents in accessing childhood immunisation and had achieved in excess of 95% uptake.
- 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 adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. 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.
Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:
- Consider recording when clinical oversight of test results by non-clinical has taken place.
- Consider practice wide joint meetings between clinical and administration staff.
- Consider providing more detailed information about recognising, recording and responding to near-miss incidents
- Consider reviewing policies and guidance in relation to the conclusions of enquiries into incidents, complaints and concern so that all investigations include a review of the relevant policies and procedures and outcomes are clearly documented. This will support practice-wide and sustained change when appropriate.
- Ensure that information about the availability of the interpreter service is always visually accessible when patients enter the practice.
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