We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 16 January 2018 to ask the service the following key questions: Are services safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led?

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 service was meeting the legal requirements and regulations underpinning the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

The London General Practice provides a range of health assessments, GP services, and occupational health related services.

This practice is registered with 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 service and these are set out in Schedule 2 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. Those occupational health related services provided to clients under a contractual arrangement through their employer or government department are exempt by law from CQC regulation and did not fall into the scope of our inspection.

The managing director 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.

Five patients provided feedback about the service. All the comments we received were positive about the service, for example patients described the care as excellent and having made a significant contribution to their health and wellbeing.

Our key findings were:

• Systems were in place to protect people from avoidable harm and abuse. When mistakes occurred lessons were learned and action was taken to minimise the potential for reoccurrence. Staff understood their responsibilities under the duty of candour.
• There were effective arrangements in place for the management of medicines.
• The service had arrangements in place to respond to medical emergencies.
• Staff were aware of current evidence based guidance. Staff were qualified and had the skills, experience and knowledge to deliver effective care and treatment.
• The practice’s patient survey information and Care Quality Commission (CQC) comment cards indicated that patients were very satisfied with the service they received.
• Information about services and how to complain was available.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management and worked well together as a team.
• There was a clear vision to provide a personalised, high quality service.
• The practice had reviewed and implemented its clinical governance systems and had put processes in place to ensure the quality of service provision.

There were areas where the provider should make improvements:

• The practice should review the scope of its clinical audit programme and its use of other improvement tools, such as benchmarking, to ensure it is maximising opportunities to monitor and improve clinical performance.