Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We undertook this desk based focused inspection of Eastlands Medical Practice on 24 January 2017 for one area within the key question safe.

We found the practice to be good in providing effective services. Overall, the practice is rated as good.

The practice was previously inspected on 19th June 2015. The inspection was a comprehensive inspection under the Health and Social Care Act 2008. At that inspection, the practice was rated good overall. However, within the key question safe, overview of reliable safety systems and processes was identified as requires improvement, as the practice was not meeting the legislation at that time; Regulation 19 Health & Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014: Fit and proper persons employed.

We found the following processes were not in place:

• A full employment history and evidence of identity was not kept for all staff. Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks were not always carried out. (DBS checks identify whether a person has a criminal record or is on an official list of people barred from working in roles where they may have contact with children or adults who may be vulnerable)

On this inspection we reviewed a range of documents which demonstrated they were now meeting the requirements of Regulation 19 Health & Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014: Fit and proper persons employed.

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 Eastlands Medical Practice on 19 June 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Specifically, we found the practice to be good for providing well-led, effective, caring and responsive services. It required improvement for providing safe services.

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, with the exception of those relating to recruitment checks.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance.
• 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 and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
• Patients’ feedback about the availability of urgent appointments was mixed, but we saw that on the day appointments were often available.
• 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.

There were areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.

Importantly the provider must:

• The provider must ensure recruitment procedures are in place and followed so that appropriate checks are carried out prior to the employment of staff.

In addition the provider should:

• The provider should put systems in place so the temperature of the fridge is checked on a daily basis.
• The provider should arrange for all staff to receive updates in mandatory training.
• The provider should review policies and amend them if information is out of date.
• The provider should formalise the process of receiving and disseminating updates, such as from the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence.
• The provider should improve their arrangements for completing clinical audit cycles so re-audits are carried out in a timely manner.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice