This practice is rated as good overall. (Previous inspection August 2016 – Good with requires improvement in safe domain. Desk top review January 2017 rated good for safe)

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

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 Dr E Ahmed’s practice (also known as Darwen Healthlink) on 5 April 2018 as part of our inspection programme.

• At this inspection we found 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 found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.
• When incidents did happen, the practice investigated them and discussed them in a staff meeting. However outcomes of these discussions and lessons learnt were not clearly recorded.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Outcomes of investigations and lessons learnt should be clearly recorded and actions reviewed.
• The practice should carry out a pro-active health and safety risk assessment.
• Seek assurance from the building managers in respect of fire safety procedures and alarm testing
• Take action to improve prescribing rates for hypnotics.
• Records of staff training should be kept up to date.
• The practice should consider establishing a planned programme of audits.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGPChief Inspector of General Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

This is a focused desk top review of evidence supplied by Dr E Ahmed’s Practice, for areas within the key question safe. The desk top review was conducted on 5 January 2017.

The practice was initially inspected on 25 August 2016. The inspection was a comprehensive inspection under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 (HSCA). At that inspection, the practice was rated ‘good’ overall. However, we found that the practice was not meeting Regulation 19 Fit and proper persons employed. We found:

• The provider had not ensured that all appropriate pre-employment checks, including references and evidence of indemnity cover, had been carried out as part of the recruitment process for new staff.

• When the decision had been made not to carry out a check through the Disclosure and Barring Service, an appropriate risk assessment had not always been carried out to document the reasoning behind the decision.

The practice supplied an action plan and a range of documents which demonstrated they are now meeting the requirements of Regulation 19 HSCA (RA) Regulations 2014 Fit and proper persons employed.

Following this desktop review, we found the practice to be good in providing safe services.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We reviewed the information available to us about Dr E Ahmed's Practice on 2 May 2019. We did not find evidence of significant changes to the quality of service being provided since the last inspection. As a result, we decided not to inspect the surgery at this time. We will continue to monitor this information about this service throughout the year and may inspect the surgery when we see evidence of potential changes.