Newburn Surgery Partnership Also known as Newburn Surgery

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, we rated this key question as GOOD. At this assessment, the rating remains the same.

This service scored 72 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

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. During staff meetings, staff discussed and learnt from clinical issues and significant events. The provider had processes for staff to report incidents, near misses and safety events. There was a system to record and investigate complaints, and when things went wrong, staff apologised and gave people support. The team also obtained regular feedback, such as Friends and Family Test results and National GP Patient Survey responses, to identify areas for improvement and enhance service delivery. In addition, learning from incidents and complaints led to changes that improved the quality of care for patients. For example, the service added extra telephone staff during busy periods to reduce call waiting times based on patient feedback.

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.

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 staff were appropriately trained in safeguarding policies and procedures. There was a designated safeguarding lead within the staff team. Any safeguarding concerns were prioritised and discussed during staff meetings, and staff used coding to ensure vulnerable individuals could be identified on the system and received the right support. The practice maintained a list of vulnerable people and acted promptly on concerns, working in partnership with other agencies, such as local authorities, to provide coordinated multidisciplinary approach.

The service worked collaboratively with people to understand and manage risks using a holistic approach. Care was delivered in a manner that was safe, supportive, and tailored to individual needs, enabling people to pursue what mattered most to them. Patients were advised on risks related to their condition and actions to take if their condition deteriorated. Staff could recognise a deteriorating patient and knew of action to take.

The service detected and controlled potential risks in the care environment. They made sure equipment, facilities and technology supported the delivery of safe care.
Arrangements 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 ensured there were enough qualified, skilled, and experienced staff who received effective support, supervision, and development. Staff worked collaboratively to provide safe care that met people’s individual needs. Safe recruitment practices were followed, and the practice employed a range of clinical and non-clinical roles. Learning and development needs were managed appropriately, and staff worked within their agreed areas of competence. Most training was up to date; however, some gaps were identified in the completion of learning disability training. When this was raised with the provider, they acted promptly to ensure all staff were enrolled on the required course.

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 lead and all staff had had relevant training. They relied on a third-party provider to provide cleaning services. Risk assessments and audits were completed, and actions taken to mitigate risks.
 

The service did not consistently ensure that medicines and treatments were safe. Medicines were stored securely and at appropriate temperatures, and staff carried out regular checks of stock levels and expiry dates for all medicines, including emergency medicines and vaccines. However, these processes were not always effective.
During the inspection, expired medication was found on site. The provider was informed and took immediate action to dispose of it, ensuring only in-date medicines remained in the fridge and medication cupboard.
We found gaps in the monitoring systems for patients on teratogenic medicines (medicines that can cause birth defects). Of 5 records reviewed, 3 patients were prescribed topiramate but were not enrolled in a Pregnancy Prevention Programme (PPP), had not signed risk acknowledgment forms, and were not on effective contraception. When this was highlighted, the practice acted promptly to address the issue. We also identified some overprescribing of short-acting beta-agonist (SABA) inhalers for asthma patients; however, the practice was already engaged in a Prescribing Engagement Scheme (PES) aimed at reducing this and had achieved an 11.85% reduction in SABA prescribing at the time of our assessment. This process was ongoing.
There was evidence of effective monitoring for disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), strong performance on angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers (ACE/ARB) and lithium monitoring, and effective checks for hypothyroid and drug interactions. Staff involved people in medication reviews and supported them to understand how to manage their medicines safely. People were informed about what to do if their condition did not improve or if they experienced unexpected symptoms. Staff received regular training and competency assessments in medicines optimisation. Medical gases, such as oxygen, were stored safely, and appropriate safety risk assessments were completed. Prescription stationery was managed securely.