Leadale Medical Practice

Updated 14 August 2019

Leadale Medical Practice is a private medical surgery located in the basement of a residential building in the Stamford Hill area of north London. The service is led by a sole doctor who is supported by a receptionist/administrator. Services include face-to-face consultations, examinations, wound management and management of long-term conditions.

The surgery is open from Sunday to Friday 9.00am-1.30pm and 6.00pm-10.00pm with occasional Saturday evening opening to meet patient demand and/or for emergency appointments.

The practice answers patient calls up until midnight and then directs patients to an operator managed messaging service until it resumes again in the morning. If a patient calls requiring urgent assistance, they are referred to one of two out of hours providers which will see patients without their needing to be members.

The practice has approximately 1,000 privately registered patients. Patients can book appointments by telephone or in person. The doctor undertakes home visits for those patients who are unable to physically access the service.

The practice’s doctor is also the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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. This service had been previously inspected by the CQC in February 2018 using our old methodology.

How we inspected this service

We carried out an inspection of Leadale Medical Practice on 6 June 2019. Before visiting, we reviewed a range of information we hold about the practice.

During our visit we:

•Spoke with the doctor and receptionist/administrator.

•Reviewed a sample of the personal care or treatment records of patients.

•Reviewed comment cards where patients and members of the public shared their views and experiences of the service.

•Spoke with patients.

•Reviewed protocols, policies and procedures.

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 14 August 2019

This service is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection February 2018 - not rated).

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, comprehensive inspection at Leadale Medical Practice on 6 June 2019 as part of our inspection programme and to check whether the practice was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Leadale Medical Practice is a private practice offering general medical services to approximately 1,000 adults and children. Services include face-to-face consultations, examinations, wound management and management of long-term conditions. The practice is based in Stamford Hill, North London has a staff team comprised of one doctor, one part time sonographer and one receptionist/administrator.

Seventy two people provided feedback about the service by completing comments cards. The feedback was positive about the practice, its staff and the care and treatment received.

Our key findings were:

•The practice had systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen.

•The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided and clinical staff ensured care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.

•Clinical staff were qualified and had the skills, experience and knowledge to deliver effective care and treatment.

•The practice was actively engaged in activities to monitor and improve quality and outcomes.

•All 72 of the CQC comment cards we received confirmed staff treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.

•There was a proactive approach to understanding the needs of the local community and towards delivering care in a way that met these needs and promoted equality.

•The culture of the service encouraged candour, openness and honesty.

•People could access appointments and services in a way and at a time that suited them.

•We saw examples of compassionate, inclusive and effective leadership.

•Practice management and governance arrangements facilitated the delivery of safe and high quality clinical care.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:. 

• Take action to ensure sufficiently detailed annual Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) audits take place.
• Continue to conduct periodic Legionella risk assessments and act on findings.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care