Background to this inspection
Updated
15 January 2020
The Medical Centre is located in Crabbs Cross in Redditch. It has one main GP who is supported by three locum GPs. There are two female and two male GPs working at the practice. The Medical Centre provides primary medical services to patients of all ages in an urban area. There is a lower number of older patients compared to the national average.
The GPs are supported by a practice manager, a business manager, a practice nurse and administrative and reception staff. There were approximately 2,800 patients registered with the practice at the time of the inspection. This had just increased as the practice had taken on some new patients from a practice which had recently closed in the area.
The practice has a General Medical Services (GMS) contract with NHS England. The GMS contract is the contract between general practices and NHS England for delivering primary care services to local communities. The practice does not provide an out-of-hours service but has alternative arrangements in place for patients to be seen when the practice is closed. For example, if patients call the practice when it is closed, an answerphone message gives the telephone number they should ring depending on the circumstances. Information on the out-of-hours service (Care UK) is provided to patients and is available on the practice's website and in the patient practice leaflet.
Updated
15 January 2020
We carried out a focussed inspection at The Medical Centre following an Annual Regulatory Review of the practice and a breach of regulation at the last inspection. During this inspection we looked at safe, effective and well-led. The practice was previously inspected in November 2018 and rated requires improvement in safe and good in all other key lines of enquiry.
We based our judgement of the quality of care at this service on a combination of:
•what we found when we inspected
•information from our ongoing monitoring of data about services and
•information from the provider, patients, the public and other organisations.
We have rated this practice as good overall and good for each of the population groups.
During the last inspection in November 2018 we found an area where the provider must make improvements:
• Ensure care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients.
This was because when we previously inspected the practice we found that the practice did not have Diazepam which is a medicine used to treat patients having a fit and Furosemide which is an injection used to treat water retention. The practice ordered both of these medicines straight after the inspection. The practice had not done a risk assessment for either of these medicines at the time of our last inspection.
At this inspection we found that there was a comprehensive system in place to ensure that medicines were being checked appropriately every week and the practice had assured itself that the range of emergency medicines in stock was sufficient to cover the range of conditions it would be likely to encounter.
During the last inspection in November 2018 we found a few areas where the provider should make improvements:
• The security of prescription pads should be strengthened, including how prescriptions are tracked through the practice.
• Carry out complete clinical audit cycles to review the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care provided.
• Review survey results and take action in order to improve patients’ experience, particularly in respect of patient interaction with GPs
• Make the chaperone policy accessible to all staff and ensure patients know that they can access a chaperone if required.
At this inspection we found that the practice had taken appropriate action in all of these areas:
•Prescriptions were no longer kept in drawers at all and were locked away. There was a log in place with the last four numbers of the prescription number in place to strengthen security.
•The practice was carrying out complete audit cycles to review the effectiveness and appropriateness of clinical care provided. However we did find some audits difficult to follow.
•The practice was reviewing survey results and undertook internal surveys to encourage more feedback from patients.
•The chaperone policy was now available in all rooms so that all staff and patients could access this as required.
We found:
•The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
•Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
•Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
•The practice organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
•The practice had a focus on learning and improvement.
•The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centred care.
However, there was also an area of practice where the provider could make improvements.
The provider should:
•Continue to engage with the Patient Participation Group and take their views into account
Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.
Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP
Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care