England’s Chief Inspector of General Practice has taken a Liverpool GP practice out of special measures following improvements in the quality of its services.
Kensington Park Surgery, operated by SSP Health Ltd, on Edge Lane in Liverpool, Merseyside was rated Inadequate overall under the Care Quality Commission's new approach to the inspection of GP practices following an inspection in October 2014, and was put into special measures.
When CQC inspected Kensington Park Surgery in October 2014, inspectors identified areas the service must improve on to protect patient safety. The practice was rated Inadequate for being safe and well-led, Requires Improvement for being effective and responsive, and Good for being caring.
In the latest inspection in October 2015, a specialist team of inspectors found the practice had improved on the areas previously identified. Inspectors rated the practice Good for services provided to all population groups and all key areas of inspection. The overall rating for the practice has moved from Inadequate to Good overall.
A copy of the report from this latest inspection has been published on the CQC website today at www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-850678602.
Professor Steve Field, Chief Inspector of General Practice, said:
"It is clear that Kensington Park Surgery has made improvements since our original inspection when we had serious concerns relating to the safe delivery of services and the leadership of the practice.
"With the support of NHS England and Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group, the practice has been able to make improvements, and is now providing a safe and clinically effective service.
“I am pleased to announce that Kensington Park Surgery will come out of special measures and I congratulate them on the progress they have made so far.
Sue McMillan, Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice for the North of England, said:
“When we inspected the practice in October 2015 we found improvements had been made in several areas. There was a renewed leadership focus and the vision of care at the practice was more widely understood. Lessons had been learned and regular quality audits were taking place.
“The practice had worked on strengthening the reporting of serious events and the investigations that followed, and action had been taken to address concerns over the lack of clinical audits to improve the service.
“Kensington Park Surgery has worked hard, with the support from CCG and NHS England, on the issues we identified in our last inspection and has renewed its focus on patient safety. Kensington Park Surgery has been rated good overall and is now out of special measures.”
The practice had worked to improve patient safety and developed better processes for reporting serious events and staff had received training in this area. Analysis of events and complaints were undertaken regularly to identify themes, and lessons learned were shared to encourage learning.
The practice had worked to ensure staff were aware of their roles and responsibilities which aided in the running of the service. There were robust arrangements and an improved effort to identifying, recording and managing risks, and make improvements to the service.
Inspectors did, however, note some areas for further improvement including a review of the system used to monitor and record safeguarding requests, ensure the process for recruitment is robust and further develop the work done regarding patient participation.
Ends
For further information please contact CQC Regional Communications Officer Mark Humphreys on 0191 233 3519 or 07881656012. Journalists wishing to speak to the press office outside of office hours can find out how to contact the team here. Please note: the press office is unable to advise members of the public on health or social care matters.
For general enquiries, please call 03000 61 61 61.
Find out more
Read reports from our checks on the standards at Kensington Park Surgery.