Updated 27 January 2025
Date of Assessment: 8 May 2025 to 12 May 2025. The Meads Medical Practice Limited is a GP practice and delivers services to approximately 12,000 patients under a contract held with NHS England. The National General Practice Profiles states that the ethnic make-up of the practice area is 92% White, 3.5% Black, 2% Asian, 2% Mixed and 0.6% Other. Information published by the office for health improvement and disparities shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the 5th decile (5 of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice population is relative to others. This assessment considered the demographics of the patients using the service, the context the service was working within and how this impacted service delivery. Where relevant, further commentary is provided in the quality statements section of this report. At this inspection, we looked at the key questions safe and effective.
The provider had a good learning culture and staff and patients could raise concerns. Managers investigated incidents thoroughly. Staff understood and managed risks. The facilities and equipment met the needs of patients, were clean and well-maintained and any risks mitigated. There were enough staff with the right skills, qualifications and experience. Managers made sure staff received training and regular appraisals to maintain high-quality care. However, safeguarding alerts were not consistently applied to household members of children considered at risk. Established systems were not consistently effective in practice. We found some medicines had not been consistently monitored in line with best practice guidance.
Patients were involved in assessments of their needs. Staff reviewed assessments taking account of patient’s communication, personal and health needs. Staff worked with all agencies involved in patient’s care for the best outcomes and smooth transitions when moving services. Staff made sure patients understood their care and treatment to enable them to give informed consent. Where patients did not have capacity, staff involved necessary people to ensure decisions were made in the patient’s best interest. However, our review of some clinical records identified inconsistencies in adherence to best practice guidance and the practice’s own policy.
At the last inspection on 27 June 2023, we rated the provider as requires improvement for providing safe and effective services. We found not all patients had received necessary monitoring for prescribed medicines and long-term conditions; staff did not always have the necessary permissions when administering medicines; and the practice was unable to demonstrate they acted on external safety alerts.
At this inspection, we found the provider had made improvements in several areas, including monitoring for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), conducting asthma reviews, reviewing patients prescribed medication for epilepsy, and reviewing patients with diabetes whose long-term blood sugar control (HbA1c) was significantly raised.
However, we identified a breach of regulation in relation to safe care and treatment due to ongoing and repeated issues that had not been fully addressed. This related to the ongoing lack of monitoring for patients prescribed medication to manage blood pressure, patients diagnosed with hypothyroidism and concerns about potential missed diagnoses of diabetes.
We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.