We carried out an announced comprehensive at The Pendle Medical Partnership on 5 and 6 September 2022. Overall, the practice is rated as good.
Each key question is rated as follows:
Safe - good
Effective - good
Caring - good
Responsive - good
Well-led - good
Why we carried out this inspection
We carried out this inspection in line with our inspection priorities. This was the first inspection of this GP practice under this registered provider.
This inspection was a comprehensive rating inspection where we reviewed all five key questions; Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well led.
How we carried out the inspection
This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend less time on site. The GP practice offers services from two surgeries, one in Colne and one in Earby. Both surgeries were visited as part of this inspection.
Our inspection included
- Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing, as well as face to face.
- Reviewing feedback received by the CQC regarding the service.
- Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system remotely; (this was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements).
- Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider.
- Requesting evidence from the provider.
- A site visit.
- Speaking with patients on the telephone the day after our 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:
- The culture of the practice and the way it was led and managed drove the delivery and improvement of high-quality, person-centred care.
- There was a focus of working with the local and wider community to foster, promote and deliver high quality effective integrated care.
- A continuous cycle of performance monitoring and improvement was established so patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
- The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
- The practice recognised the different challenges vulnerable and older people faced and implemented strategies of monitoring and direct support to make sure these people received effective care, treatment and support quickly.
- Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
We saw areas of outstanding practice including:
- The practice had a GP lead for mental health services and the service employed two mental health nurses. This enabled the practice to offer a quality service for those with complex mental health issues, adult attention deficit disorder and gender reassignment. One person we spoke with told of us of their experiences of help and support they received and how they were assisted to link with a social prescriber, which in turn was the catalyst for the establishment of a dementia café in Barnoldswick. A second dementia care café was planned to be opened Colne.
- Working in partnership and staff development was part the practice ethos and the staff employed by the service were supported with opportunities to train and develop along a career pathway. Staff had the autonomy and support to establish training programmes such as supporting student nurses with practice placements.
Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:
- Continue with the updating of safeguarding records to include all family members living within a household.
- Implement action to ensure sharp containers are signed and dated appropriately.
- Streamline the recording of emergency medicine stock check and expiry date.
- Seek ways to gather patient feedback.
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