We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 5 December 2017 to ask the service the following key questions; Are services safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led?

Our findings were:

Are services safe?

We found that this service was providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services effective?

We found that this service was providing effective care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services caring?

We found that this service was providing caring services in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services responsive?

We found that this service was providing responsive care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services well-led?

We found that this service was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Background

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the service was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

CQC have not previously inspected this service.

Longview Primary Care Centre provides minor surgery and Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) consultations and procedures. They offer diagnosis, treatment and support for people aged 16 years old and over within the Knowsley area of Liverpool.

The hours of operation are: Tuesday: 9am - 1pm, Thursday: 1.30pm - 5pm, Friday: 2pm - 5.30pm (ENT clinic). The service is run by two doctors and a team coordinator, and is supported by two nurses, a theatre assistant and administrative staff.

One of the doctors is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission to be responsible for the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

As part of our inspection we asked for CQC comment cards to be completed by patients prior to our inspection. We received 51 comment cards which were overall very positive about the standard of care received. Comments included; doctors listened to them and treated them with respect. Staff were very helpful, caring and gave good explanations and information that was easy to understand.

Our key findings were:

• There were systems in place to report, analyse and learn from significant events, incidents and near misses.
• Recruitment policies and procedures were in place. These should be improved so that information held on staff employed is obtained prior to employment and is complete.
• Systems and practices were in place for the prevention and control of infection to ensure risks of infection were minimised.
• There were policies and procedures in place for safeguarding patients from the risk of abuse. Staff had received training in safeguarding at an appropriate level to their role and knew who to go to for further advice.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and treatment was planned and delivered following best practice guidance.
• Staff felt supported. They had access to training and development opportunities.

• Patients commented that they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect. Patients were given good verbal information regarding their treatment in a way they understood. Written information was available.

• Access to the service was monitored to ensure it met the needs of patients. Contract monitoring meetings with the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) were evident.

• There was a system in place to manage complaints.
• There were systems in place to monitor and improve quality and identify risk.
• Patient satisfaction views were obtained and analysed.
• There was a clear vision to provide a safe and high quality service. Staff felt supported by management and worked very well together as a team
• The provider was aware of and complied with the duty of candour.

There were areas where the provider could make improvements and they should:

• Review the recruitment procedures so that full information is obtained and held on staff prior to employment.
• Review the frequency of infection prevention and control audits to check that areas identified as needing action had been improved on.
• Review systems to proactively gain patient feedback at intervals following on from treatment.
• Review the communication of the business continuity plan so that all staff are fully aware of it.
• Review the storage of patients’ paper records to ensure they are safe from environmental risk damage.
• Review information for patients regarding complaints to include contact details for taking unresolved issues to other bodies.
• Review infection prevention and control training to include updates at regular intervals and when guidelines or legislation changes.