EssexPrivateGP

Updated 28 September 2022

Essex Private GP is an independent GP consulting and treatment service whose medical staff are on the GP register at the General Medical Council. The service has been registered since March 2021 to deliver the following regulated activities: Diagnostic and screening, Family planning and Treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

The service is located on the ground floor of Oakdin Surgery, 58 Laindon Road, Billericay, CM12 9LD. Oakdin Surgery provides the clinical consulting room, some administrative support and use of their equipment under a service level agreement. Oakdin Surgery also holds a separate CQC registration and are in the process of changing their name with the CQC, to Oakdin Clinic.

Staff working at this location include four independent GP’s who work at the clinic under practicing privileges. A non-clinical administrative staff member works remotely, is employed by the provider and is responsible for patient bookings and queries.

The clinic is open Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm and Saturday 9am to 12.30pm.

Face to face and home visit appointments are available during clinical hours, out of hours appointments are available on an ad hoc basis. Service users can book appointments online or by calling EssexPrivateGP.

How we inspected this service

This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site. This was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements. This included requesting evidence from the provider before and after the inspection. We then conducted a short site visit to inspect the building, review additional evidence, conduct on site interviews with staff members and review patient records. We conducted a remote interview following our onsite visit with the GP administrator who works remotely for the service.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask the following five questions:

• Is it safe?
• Is it effective?
• Is it caring?
• Is it responsive to people’s needs?
• Is it well-led?

These questions therefore formed the framework for the areas we looked at during the inspection.

Updated 28 September 2022

This service is rated as Good overall.

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? – Good

We carried out an announced inspection at EssexPrivateGP as part of our inspection programme and to provide a rating for the service.

EssexPrivateGP provides an independent GP consulting and treatment service to children and adults of all ages.

The Lead GP 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.

Our key findings were:

• The service had clear systems to keep patients safe and safeguarded from abuse.
• Staff had the information they needed to deliver safe care and treatment to patients.
• The provider sought assurance from those responsible for the premises to ensure the safety of patients and staff.
• The service routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the safety and quality of care it provided to ensure treatment was delivered according to evidence-based guidelines.
• Patients were treated with respect and staff were kind, caring and involved them in decisions about their care.
• Patients were able to access efficient and effective care and treatment from the service, with appointments available on the same day.
• The service demonstrated a culture which focused on the needs of patients and commitment to driving improvement.
• There was a clear leadership structure in place and staff felt supported by management.
• The service had a governance framework and had established processes for managing risks, issues and performance.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Work with those responsible for the premises to continue to monitor and mitigate risks associated with legionella bacterium contamination of water systems.
• Continue to indicate the lead responsible individual at the service in all policies.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care