Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr S C & A K Thakur Speke Neighbourhood Health Centre on 28 June 2016. While the overall rating for the practice was good, the practice was rated as requires improvement for Safe. The full comprehensive report on the 28 June 2016 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Dr S C & A K Thakur Speke Neighbourhood Health Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk. There were a number of improvements that we identified at this inspection and breaches of legal requirements were also found. This included;

The areas where the provider must make improvements were:

• The provider must ensure that they have robust procedures and processes for the safeguarding of vulnerable adults and children. This must include the required training level suitable to all staff roles at the practice.

The areas where the provider should make improvement were:

• Ensure all staff have undertaken infection control training.

• Review the medicines procedures for the safe storage of prescription pads.

• Ensure that all comments and verbal complaints made by patients are listened to and acted on effectively.

• A risk assessment for the need to have oxygen on site in an emergency should be undertaken. According to current external guidance and national standards this equipment should be in place in all practices.

This inspection was an announced desk-based review carried out on 13 February 2017 to confirm that the practice had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breaches in regulations that we identified in our previous inspection on 28 June 2016.

This report covers our findings in relation to those requirements and also additional improvements made since our last inspection.

The findings of this desk top review were as follows:

• The practice had addressed all of the issues identified during the previous inspection.

• The provider had reviewed the procedures and processes for the safeguarding of vulnerable adults and children. All staff had completed training appropriate to their level.

• All staff had completed infection control training.

• A new system for the safe security of prescription pads had been put in place.

• The practice has oxygen equipment in place for use in an emergency situation.

• The practice developed a new complaints management policy with supporting complaints information for patients.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr S C & A K Thakur Speke Neighbourhood Health Centre on 28 June 2016.

Overall the practice is rated as good.

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

• There were systems in place to reduce risks to patient safety, for example, infection control procedures, medication management and the management of staffing levels. Improvements were needed to the security of prescription pads, the availability of oxygen and the training records kept for GP locums.

• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns and report incidents and near misses. Staff were aware of procedures for safeguarding patients from the risk of abuse. However GPs had not attended adult safeguarding training.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance.

• Staff felt well supported. They told us they had received training appropriate to their roles. The records of all staff training needed to be improved to assist in monitoring and planning for the training needs of staff.

• Patients were positive about the care and treatment they received from the practice. The National Patient Survey January 2016 showed that patients’ responses about whether they were treated with respect, compassion and involved in decisions about their care and treatment were comparable to local and national averages.

• Services were planned and delivered to take into account the needs of different patient groups.

• The National GP Patient Survey results showed that patient’s satisfaction with access to care and treatment was generally in line with local and national averages.

• Information about how to complain was available. There was a system in place to manage complaints.

• There were systems in place to monitor and improve quality and identify risk.

The areas where the provider must make improvements are:

• The provider must ensure that they have robust procedures and processes for the safeguarding of vulnerable adults and children. This must include the required training level suitable to all staff roles at the practice.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Review all significant events annually to identify themes and prevent reoccurrance.

• Ensure all staff have undertaken infection control training.

• Review the medicines procedures for the safe storage of prescription pads.

• Ensure that all comments and verbal complaints made by patients are listened to and acted on effectively.

• A risk assessment for the need to have oxygen on site in an emergency should be undertaken. According to current external guidance and national standards this equipment should be in place in all practices.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We spoke with four people who used the service during our inspection and looked at comments from a selection of 85 questionnaires recently completed by patients from the practice. Everyone made positive comments about the practice and said that they were happy with the care and treatment they had received. Some comments made were, “My doctors are fabulous,” and “I have always felt that the treatment I receive is excellent.”

Patients were treated by staff that were appropriately trained and supported. The environment within the surgery was clean and tidy and the quality of the service provided was monitored on a regular basis.