This practice is rated as Good overall.

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Requires Improvement

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? - Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Colne Family Doctors on 26 April 2018 as part of our national GP inspection programme following a change to the registration of the provider.

At this inspection we found:

• The practice had clear systems to manage most risks so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice could demonstrate clearly how it learned from them and improved its processes.
• We noted that while recruitment checks for permanently employed staff members were comprehensive, there were gaps in pre-employment checks completed for two long term locum GPs employed at the practice.
• The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Patients told us they found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
• High value was placed on patient feedback and we saw the practice responded swiftly to any complaints raised and implemented learning as a result.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

• The practice had set up a patient education meeting that was held on a quarterly basis and was available to all patients, not just those registered at the practice. The meetings incorporated guest speakers such as members of national diabetes support groups, dieticians and diabetic specialist nurses.

The areas where the provider must make improvements are:

• Ensure recruitment procedures are established and operated effectively to ensure only fit and proper persons are employed.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Formally log patient safety alerts received and any action taken as a result to provide an audit trail and assurance that any necessary actions have been completed.
• Complete a risk assessment to document the rationale for the storage locations of emergency medication and equipment.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice

We previously carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Colne Family Doctors on 26 April 2018 as part of our inspection programme. At this inspection, the practice was rated as good overall, but requires improvement for providing safe services due to gaps in the practice’s recruitment processes, particularly with regards to locum GPs employed. We issued a requirement notice for a breach of regulation 19 (Fit and proper persons employed) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. The full comprehensive report following the inspection in April 2018 can be found on our website here: https://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-4098823325/reports.

We carried out a desk based review of evidence supplied by the practice on 14 January 2019 to gain assurance that the practice had carried out its plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breaches identified within the requirement notice.

The practice is now rated as good overall and good for all key questions and population groups.

We found that:

• The practice provided evidence to us demonstrating it had improved the pre-employment checks carried out and documented for locum GPs working at the practice. This provided assurance that they had been recruited in a safe way.

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

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice