Meadowgreen Health Centre

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Meadowgreen Health Centre on 18 and 19 May 2022. Overall, the practice is rated as Good. The rating for each key question is:

Safe - Good

Effective – Good

Caring – Good

Responsive - Good

Well-led – Good

Why we carried out this inspection

This inspection was a comprehensive inspection as the provider had changed their registration with the commission when moving their location site.

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. This was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements.

This included:

• Conducting staff interviews using video and telephone conferencing.
• 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.
• Requesting evidence from the provider.
• Requesting staff to complete a short questionnaire.
• A short visit to the main site and branch site.

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 have rated this practice as Good overall

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. Clinical searches and medical records we reviewed showed effective management and monitoring of patients with long-term conditions although there were some areas that required review.
• Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
• The practice had adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients could access urgent care and treatment in a timely way. However, patients told us that they struggled to obtain a routine appointment and access to the practice by telephone was difficult.
• The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centred care. Leaders had managed the merger with another practice and a large influx of patients effectively.

Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:

• Standardise the medication review protocol to ensure all staff are following the same process.
• Improve the uptake of monitoring of patients on medication for heart conditions.
• Implement a rolling process to ensure actions taken as a result of a medicines alert continue long term.
• Address patient feedback with regard to access via telephone and the ability to pre-book a routine appointment.
• Implement a rolling system to review potential missed diagnosis from blood test results.
• Continue to improve uptake of cervical cytology screening.

Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care