We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Cedars Medical Group on 13 February 2019 as part of our inspection programme (previous inspection August 2015 – good).

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 and good for all population groups, except working age people and families, children and young people, which we rated as outstanding.

We rated the practice as outstanding for providing effective services for working age people because:

• Highly effective arrangements were in place to encourage patients to attend health screening, including for cervical cancer. Staff took every opportunity when speaking with patients to advise them on the importance of screening. The practice’s cervical screening uptake rate was well above the target of 80%; the rate was the fifth highest nationally.

We rated the practice as outstanding for providing responsive services for families, children and young people because:

• The practice had considered and responded to the needs of young people; there were dedicated on the day appointments for under 16s and teenagers every day. Staff had undertaken a training course on adolescents, had sought advice from a local adolescent charity and carried out a survey with a local high school. They then acted on a number of suggestions. The practice offered a half-day session for nursery children; to help them become familiar with the building and the team.

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.
• Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
• The practice organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
• The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.

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

• Improve arrangements to provide assurance that relevant patient safety alerts have been identified, distributed to the right people, a decision made on which need actioned and any action taken recorded.
• Review their arrangements for ensuring that staff have received the relevant vaccinations.
• Implement a system to enable the monitoring of the distribution of blank prescriptions throughout the practice.
• Put systems in place to enable managers to monitor staff training.

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

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGPChief Inspector of General Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Cedars Medical Group on 25 August 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses. Information about safety was recorded, monitored, appropriately reviewed and addressed.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance. Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and any further training needs had been identified and planned.
• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• Information about services was available and easy to understand.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment. There were urgent appointments available the same day for GPs and Nurses. Non urgent appointments were available for the following week.
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
• The practice had collaborated with the local Comprehensive school and undertaken a survey of all teenagers. As a result of their findings they now have a dedicated noticeboard for young people with information they wanted to access.
• Staff had completed further training regarding adolescents (You’re Welcome) and collaborated with the charity Change Makers.
• The practice liaised with a local nursery to arrange visits for pre-school children and the children were encouraged to take part in a colouring competition during the visit. The aim of this was to familiarise them with the practice prior to pre-school immunisations.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice