We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 28 June 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 safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services caring?

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

Are services responsive?

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

Are services well-led?

We found that this service was providing safe 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 service was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

The Gingerbread Centre for Health provides independent private GP services. The service is provided by a principal GP.

The Gingerbread Centre for Health is registered with Care Quality Commission (CQC) under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of some, but not all, of the services it provides. There are some exemptions from regulation by CQC which relate to particular types of services and these are set out in Schedule 2 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. Some of the services available at The Gingerbread Centre for Health for example, facial aesthetics using wrinkle-reducing injections, dermal fillers and face-lifting threads are exempt by law from CQC regulation. Therefore, we were only able to inspect the independent private GP services as part of this inspection. The Gingerbread Centre for Health is registered with CQC to provide the regulated activity Treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

As part of our inspection we reviewed CQC comment cards where patients and members of the public shared their views and experiences of the service. There were 10 completed CQC comment cards; patients commented that they were satisfied with the care provided by the practice. They described the GP as helpful, caring and approachable and said it was usually easy to get an appointment.

Our key findings were:

• There were systems in place to keep patients safe and safeguarded from abuse.
• Care and treatment was delivered in accordance with evidence-based guidelines.
• The premises were visibly clean and tidy and there were appropriate infection prevention and control measures in place.
• The GP was part of a group of local clinicians of varying backgrounds who met at monthly intervals to provide peer support and learning. Significant events and learning from other services were shared with the group.
• The privacy and dignity of patients was respected. The consultation room door was closed when patients were present and privacy curtains were provided.
• There was an overarching governance framework provided by Gingerbread House Dental and Health Centre with practice specific policies for the GP services.

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

• Review the calibration of equipment used by the service to ensure their accuracy.