We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Practice Lincoln Green on 25 August 2022. Following this inspection, we rated the location as Good and for each key question:
Safe - Good
Effective - Good
Caring - Good
Responsive - Good
Well-led - Good
Following our previous inspection on 19 November 2015, the practice was rated Good overall and for the key questions of safe, effective, caring and well-led. At the last inspection we rated the practice as outstanding for providing responsive services because:
- Educational workshops were provided for patients who had a diagnosis of diabetes to improve their understanding and self-management. The practice also delivered educational sessions in a local primary school and supermarket.
- One of the practice nurses had co-founded the Leeds Respiratory Network Group.
- Mindfulness and guided meditation sessions were provided for patients.
- There was a proactive approach to the education of patients and they could evidence a reduction in accident and emergency attendances as a result.
At this inspection, we found that some of those areas previously regarded as outstanding practice were no longer in operation, as a result of staff leaving the practice and shortfalls in staffing overall. At this inspection, the threshold for achieving an outstanding rating had not been reached. The practice is therefore now rated good for providing responsive services.
The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Practice Lincoln Green on our website at www.cqc.org.uk
Why we carried out this inspection
This comprehensive inspection was undertaken in line with our inspection priorities.
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 as possible. This was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements.
This included:
- Requesting evidence from the provider.
- Conducting some staff interviews via telephone and teleconferencing.
- Practice staff completing questionnaires.
- Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system and discussing findings with the provider.
- Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider
- A site visit.
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 found that:
- There were systems in place to safeguard children and vulnerable adults from abuse and staff knew how to identify and report safeguarding concerns.
- Leaders reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care the service provided. They ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence-based guidelines.
- The practice had adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care.
- The practice operated effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care.
Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:
- Continue to undertake recruitment processes, and/or review staffing structures, to ensure there are enough clinical staff to deliver services.
- Summarise any outstanding patient records to ensure that all information is available for the delivery of safe patient care and treatment.
- Continue to look at ways of improving uptake rates for childhood immunisations and cancer screening of breast, bowel and cervical.
- Continue to have regular, minuted meetings, such as clinical, safeguarding and palliative care, to support the delivery of patient care and treatment.
- Improve the identification of carers.
Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.
Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA
Chief Inspector of Hospitals and Interim Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services