We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 16 October 2018 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.

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 practice was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Medical Prime at Cannon Street is a private GP practice which is provided by a sole female practitioner.

The sole practitioner is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage 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.

Four people provided feedback about the service via CQC comment cards, all of which were positive about the GP and the services provided.

Our key findings were:

• The practice had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes.
• The practice was appropriately equipped to deal with medical emergencies.
• The practice 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 commented via CQC comment cards they found it easy to book an appointment and reported the practice was responsive to their needs.
• There was a clear vision and strategy, along with a strong governance framework in place which included all key policies and guidance.

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

• Review improvement activity to ensure 2-cycle clinical audits are carried out as planned.
• Review the availability of information regarding services in languages other than English, together with, visual aids and easy read materials.
• Review on an ongoing basis the need for a policy asking adults accompanying a child patient to provide proof of parental authority.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGPChief Inspector of General Practice