Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced inspection of this practice on 5 March 2015. Breaches of legal requirements were found. After the comprehensive inspection the practice wrote to us to say what they would do to meet the following legal requirements set out in the Health and Social Care Act (HSCA) 2008:

• Regulation 21 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010, which corresponds to Regulation 19 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014;

• Regulation 12 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010, which corresponds to Regulation 12 (2) (h) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

We undertook this focused inspection to check that they had followed their plan and to confirm that they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to those requirements. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Priory Medical Group on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Our key findings were as follows:

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

• Action had been taken to improve the management of medicines and infection control arrangements.

• Appropriate recruitment checks had been carried out for staff and there were arrangements in place to ensure the GPs and nurses were registered with the relevant professional bodies.

• Infection control and health and safety audits had been carried out; action had then been taken to address any issues arising.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out a comprehensive inspection of Priory Medical Group on 5 March 2015.

Overall, we rated the practice as ‘requires improvement’. Specifically, we found the practice required improvement for providing safe and well led services but was good for providing effective, caring and responsive services.

Our key findings were as follows:

• Feedback from patients was generally positive; they told us staff treated them with respect and kindness;
• Most patients reported good access to the practice, with urgent appointments available the same day;
• Patients we spoke with told us they felt they had sufficient time during their appointment;
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance;
• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses. Information about safety was recorded, monitored, reviewed and addressed;
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by the management team. The practice actively sought feedback from patients;
• The practice did not have good infection control arrangements;
• Some out of date medicines were found at each of the three surgeries.

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

Importantly, the provider must:

• ensure relevant checks are carried out on staff, in relation to recruitment of new staff and existing staff’s professional registrations;
• ensure patients’ specimens are not stored alongside medicines and undertake a risk, assessment for the presence of legionella (a type of bacteria found in the environment which can contaminate water systems in buildings).

In addition the provider should:

• take action to ensure medicines are in date and the cold chain for storage of medicines requiring refrigeration is not broken;
• carry out a risk assessment to determine whether the practice should have defibrillators available at each surgery;
• put appropriate arrangements in place to ensure medical consumables, such as single use needles and syringes are in date;
• clarify arrangements for managing the care of patients with long-term conditions who had not attended review appointments
• review systems for assessing and monitoring the quality of the service provision and take steps to ensure risks are managed appropriately.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Priory Medical Group on 21 March 2019 as part of our inspection programme.

At the last inspection in December 2015 we rated the practice as good overall and for delivering safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led services.

We have based our judgement of the quality of care at this service on a combination of:

• what we found when we inspected
• information from our ongoing monitoring of data about services and
• information from the provider, patients, the public and other organisations.

We have rated this practice as good overall and good for all population groups.

• The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
• Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs. Good systems were in place to ensure patients attended long term condition and medication reviews.
• Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care. Patient feedback abut the practice and its staff was consistently positive.
• The practice organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
• The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.
• The practice was responsive to the needs of their local population

Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:

• Check and record staff immunity status for routine immunisations, including diptheria, polio, measles, mumps and rubella.
• Update the practice recruitment policy to reflect the need to seek recent photgraphic identity, documentary evidence of qualifications and explanation of gaps in employment history
• Consider arranging sepsis awareness training for non-clinical staff

Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice