Wellington Way Health Centre

We carried out an announced comprehensive at Wellington Road Health Centre on 16 and 21 August 2023. Overall, the practice is rated as Good.

Safe - Good

Effective - Good

Caring - Good

Responsive – Requires Improvement

Well-led - Good

Why we carried out this inspection

We carried out this inspection as a result of two GP practices both operating from the same location merging. This is the first inspection for this provider at this location. The full report for this inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Wellington Way Health Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

How we carried out the inspection/review

This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site.

This included:-

• Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing.
• Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system (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 short 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:

• The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
• Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs. We saw that the provider engaged with local healthcare partners to ensure care of patients shared between services was seamless.
• Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
• Results from the last published nation GP survey, showed some patients felt they could not always access care and treatment in a timely way.
• The practice conducted its own internal patient surveys and acted upon the outcomes of survey results.
• Governance arrangements at the practice supported good management of delivery of services at the practice.
• The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.
• Staff at the practice had the skills, knowledge and experience to do their job, however this was not always recorded their training.
• The practice acted upon learning gained from significant events and complaints to improve the provision of services at the practice.
• Staff wellbeing was important to practice leaders, and we saw this commitment demonstrated in a recent all staff wellbeing event at the practice.

Whilst we found no breach of regulation, the provider should:

• Monitor that staff training is completed when required.
• Embed new prescription monitoring policy within practice governance.
• Have staff meeting discussions relating to safety alerts noted in minutes.
• Establish effective system and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care in relation to access to services delivered at this location.

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 Health Care