4 April 2019
During a routine inspection
This service is rated as Requires improvement overall. This was the first inspection of this service using our current methodology.
The key questions are rated as:
Are services safe? – Requires improvement
Are services effective? – Requires improvement
Are services caring? – Good
Are services responsive? – Good
Are services well-led? – Requires improvement
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at FarleyMed as part of our inspection programme.
FarleyMed is an independent GP and nursing service located near the town of Reading, Berkshire. The GP service had been reduced in the preceding two years and there had been no face-to-face GP consultations for 18 months. Patients requesting a GP consultation were signposted to other local GP services.
There were no patients accessing the service on the day of the inspection for us to speak with and there had been no patients in the two weeks prior to the inspection for us to collect comment cards from. We reviewed feedback from the provider to make our judgement.
Our key findings were:
- Safeguarding systems kept patients safe and safeguarded from abuse.
- There were systems and processes in place to manage risk, although not all risks had been appropriately identified in relation to infection control and emergency processes.
- The service ensures that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence based research or guidelines.
- There was no established system to review the training requirements of the nurse and they had not received an annual appraisal.
- Quality improvement activity, such as clinical audit, was not established or embedded.
- Patient feedback to the service was positive and patients were satisfied with their care and treatment.
- The culture of the service encouraged candour, openness and honesty.
- Governance arrangements for identifying and responding to risk required a review.
The areas where the provider must make improvements as they are in breach of regulations are:
- Ensure care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients.
- Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care.
(You can see full details of the regulations not being met at the end of this report).
Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP
Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care