Quinton Practice

On this page

• Overview
• Learning culture
• Safe systems, pathways and transitions
• Safeguarding
• Involving people to manage risks
• Safe environments
• Safe and effective staffing
• Infection prevention and control
• Medicines optimisation

We looked for evidence that people were protected from abuse and avoidable harm.

At our last assessment in October 2023, we rated this key question as requires improvement. At this assessment, the rating has changed to good. The practice had addressed the concerns identified at the previous inspection.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Leaders told us since the last inspection they had embedded a stronger learning culture within the practice, with complaints and significant events discussed anonymously for shared learning, reflection and quality improvement.

We found the service had a proactive and positive culture of safety, based on openness and honesty. They listened to concerns about safety and investigated and reported safety events. Lessons were learnt to continually identify and embed good practice.

People felt supported to raise concerns and felt staff treated them with compassion and understanding. A representative from the Patient Participation Group (PPG) felt the provider took concerns seriously and proactively made improvements to the service.

Managers encouraged staff to raise concerns when things went wrong. Staff felt there was an open no blame culture, and that safety was a top priority. The provider had processes for staff to report incidents, near misses and safety events. Staff were able to share examples of a significant event, the action taken and the learning.

There was a system to record and investigate complaints, and when things went wrong, staff apologised and gave people support. Learning from incidents and complaints resulted in changes that improved care for others. An annual analysis of complaints and incidents was now being undertaken to help identify any trends and themes to improve overall service quality and safety.

The service worked with people and healthcare partners to establish and maintain safe systems of care, in which safety was managed or monitored. They made sure there was continuity of care, including when people moved between different services.

There were systems in place for processing information relating to new patients. The service worked with other providers to deliver shared care and when patients moved between services. Referrals and test results were managed in a timely way.

The service worked with people and healthcare partners to understand what being safe meant to them and the best way to achieve that. They concentrated on improving people’s lives while protecting their right to live in safety, free from bullying, harassment, abuse, discrimination, avoidable harm and neglect. The service shared concerns quickly and appropriately.

Safeguarding policies were in place and known to staff, who were now appropriately trained in safeguarding procedures. The practice had a designated safeguarding champion and maintained a list of vulnerable people and acted on concerns working in partnership with other organisations. There were effective safeguarding systems in place for example, if child immunisation appointments were missed and for frequent AE attenders. Safeguarding meetings were held quarterly and recorded, and where relevant, information was shared with the local out-of-hours provider, for example patients identified at the end of their lives.

The service worked with people to understand and manage risks by thinking holistically. They provided care to meet people’s needs that was safe, supportive and enabled people to do the things that mattered to them.

Emergency equipment was available and maintained. Staff could recognise a deteriorating patient and knew of action to take. They shared examples of 2 medical emergencies that had occurred in the practice and the prompt action they had taken in the best interests of the patients concerned. Patients were advised on risks related to their condition and actions to take if their condition deteriorated.

The service had made improvements in relation to detecting and controlling potential risks in the care environment. They made sure equipment, facilities and technology supported the delivery of safe care.

Since our last site visit leaders had worked closely with the landlord to gain assurance that all relevant risk assessment and health and safety checks had been completed.

Contracts were in place to ensure the premises were maintained. Health and safety risk assessments and audits had been undertaken and risks identified had been addressed. There was a business continuity plan in place which was monitored and reviewed.

The service made sure there were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff, who received effective support, supervision and development. They worked together well to provide safe care that met people’s individual needs.

There were a range of clinical and non-clinical roles within the practice. Leaders told us they were fortunate to have a very hardworking, dedicated and supportive team. The practice was fully staffed, and leaders continually reviewed staff skill mix across the multidisciplinary team. In addition, leaders had reviewed staff job descriptions and introduced cross-functional team-working, with staff learning new skills. This meant staff could provide in-house cover for colleagues during both planned and unplanned absences. Leaders told us they had recruited an additional practice pharmacist, who was previously a Primary Care Network (PCN) pharmacist, alongside the PCN pharmacy team to further strengthen structured medication reviews, prescribing safety work, audits and chronic disease monitoring.

Staff told us they were offered and supported with training and development opportunities in addition to career progression. For example, a non-clinician had moved into a clinical role within the practice following training. We found training was up to date, learning needs and development of staff was managed appropriately, and staff were working within their agreed areas of competence. Regular peer reviews were undertaken of clinicians’ consultations.

The practice had a recruitment policy and procedure in place to ensure that only fit and proper persons were employed. We saw safe recruitment practices were followed, and a checklist had been implemented to ensure all the required checks were undertaken prior to employment.

The service assessed and managed the risk of infection. They detected and controlled the risk of it spreading and shared concerns with appropriate agencies promptly.

The practice had a designated infection, prevention and control (IPC) lead and all staff had had relevant training. Cleaning schedules for the practice were in place and followed. However, these were not readily accessible for shared areas within the health centre cleaned by the landlord. Leaders told us they would follow this up with the landlord. An IPC audit had been completed by the IPC lead in December 2025 and overall, the practice achieved good compliance with actions taken to mitigate identified risks.

The service made sure that medicines and treatments were safe and met people’s needs, capacities and preferences. They involved people in planning, including when changes happened.

Staff involved people in reviews of their medicines and helped them understand how to manage their medicines safely. People knew what to do and who to contact if their condition did not improve or they experienced any unexpected symptoms. Staff received regular training, were competency assessed on medicines optimisation, and felt confident managing the storage, administration and recording of medicines. Staff generally managed prescription stationery appropriately and following our initial feedback took action to improve the security of the stationery.

Our clinical searches found that staff followed protocols to ensure they prescribed all medicines safely, and ensured people received all recommended medicines reviews and monitoring. Medicines were stored securely and at appropriate temperatures. Staff regularly checked the stock levels and expiry dates for all medicines, including emergency medicines and vaccines.

Staff stored medical gases, such as oxygen, safely. The provider had effective systems to manage and respond to safety alerts and medicine recalls. Staff followed established processes to ensure people prescribed medicines with specific risks received recommended monitoring.

Staff took steps to ensure they prescribed medicines appropriately to optimise care outcomes, including antibiotics. There was a programme of regular clinical audits of prescribing that focused on improving care and treatment.