Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We previously inspected The Park Medical Centre in December 2016 and the practice was rated as requires improvement overall. We found there were gaps in responding to significant events, the assessment and management of risks including staffing and that governance arrangements were not comprehensive. The full comprehensive report on December 2016 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Park Medical Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

This inspection was an announced comprehensive inspection carried out on 17 October 2017 to confirm that the practice had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breach in regulations that we identified in our previous inspection on 8 December 2016. Overall the practice is now rated as good.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

• Systems to recognise, record, and respond to significant events had improved and these were supported by an incident policy. Evidence was available that demonstrated outcomes and learning from significant events and complaints were shared.
• We identified previously a number of areas of potential risk to both patients and staff including the lack of risk assessments for the building, legionella and the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH). Evidence at this inspection demonstrated that safe effective systems had been implemented to address these areas.
• Appropriate recruitment checks were now in place for all staff, including locum GPs. Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Systems to ensure medicines stored at the practice were in date were implemented and the use of prescription paper was monitored.
• Governance arrangement had improved with up to date policies and procedures available to all staff on a shared drive.
• Locum GPs had access to the practice policies and procedures and a Locum information pack was available in paper and electronic format.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand. The practice reviewed complaints at team meetings.
• Patients were positive about their interactions with staff and said they were treated with compassion and dignity.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Formally record a business plan to monitor the practice’s effectiveness and achievement in meeting its objectives, including a strategy to improve performance in the Quality and Outcomes Framework and a programme of clinical audit and re-audit.
• Continue to promote the patient participation group for the practice.
• Continue efforts to identify and support patients who are also carers.
• Make the practice’s complaint form readily available to patients.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We previously inspected The Park Medical Centre in December 2016 and the practice was rated as requires improvement overall. We found there were gaps in responding to significant events, the assessment and management of risks including staffing and that governance arrangements were not comprehensive. The full comprehensive report on December 2016 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Park Medical Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

This inspection was an announced comprehensive inspection carried out on 17 October 2017 to confirm that the practice had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breach in regulations that we identified in our previous inspection on 8 December 2016. Overall the practice is now rated as good.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

• Systems to recognise, record, and respond to significant events had improved and these were supported by an incident policy. Evidence was available that demonstrated outcomes and learning from significant events and complaints were shared.
• We identified previously a number of areas of potential risk to both patients and staff including the lack of risk assessments for the building, legionella and the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH). Evidence at this inspection demonstrated that safe effective systems had been implemented to address these areas.
• Appropriate recruitment checks were now in place for all staff, including locum GPs. Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Systems to ensure medicines stored at the practice were in date were implemented and the use of prescription paper was monitored.
• Governance arrangement had improved with up to date policies and procedures available to all staff on a shared drive.
• Locum GPs had access to the practice policies and procedures and a Locum information pack was available in paper and electronic format.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand. The practice reviewed complaints at team meetings.
• Patients were positive about their interactions with staff and said they were treated with compassion and dignity.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Formally record a business plan to monitor the practice’s effectiveness and achievement in meeting its objectives, including a strategy to improve performance in the Quality and Outcomes Framework and a programme of clinical audit and re-audit.
• Continue to promote the patient participation group for the practice.
• Continue efforts to identify and support patients who are also carers.
• Make the practice’s complaint form readily available to patients.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We visited The Park Medical Centre in September 2013 and had concerns about the safety and suitability of the premises. We were also concerned that pre-employment checks in respect of staff employed at the practice had not been taken up.

During our follow up inspection on the 30 January 2014 we found that people who used the service, staff and visitors were protected against the risks of unsafe or unsuitable premises because the registered provider had taken action to ensure the premises were secure and that appropriate fire safety checks were in place.

We found that the registered provider was now operating a robust recruitment process and this ensured that suitable staff were employed at the practice.

We talked with four patients who had attended appointments on the day of our visit. We also talked with the three doctors, the practice nurse, two receptionists and the practice manager.

One patient said: "I like this group of doctors." Another patient described one of the doctors as "the best doctor in the world".

The practice worked on the basis that implied consent was given for routine examinations, but used written consent forms for minor surgical procedures. We found that staff had been trained to an appropriate level in safeguarding and knew how to report any concerns.

We found that the premises were well maintained and suitable for their use as a doctors' surgery. However, we found that the tenant of the flat upstairs had access to the surgery at any time. We considered that the provider was not compliant with the regulation relating to security of the premises.

We found that The Park Medical Centre could not demonstrate that it carried out effective recruitment processes. Therefore the provider was not compliant with the relevant regulation.

We found that there were adequate systems for monitoring the quality of the service, but that the system of recording complaints could be improved.