Archived: Dr Alagu Rajkumar

Updated 11 August 2022

Dr Alagu Rajkumar is located in Warrington at:

Orford Jubilee Park

Jubilee Way

Warrington

Cheshire

WA2 8HE

The practice has a branch surgery at:

Medi Centre

Tanners Lane

Warrington

Cheshire

WA2 7NJ

We visited the main location at Orford Jubilee Park and the branch surgery to carry out the inspection.

The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the Regulated Activities; diagnostic and screening procedures, maternity and midwifery services and treatment of disease, disorder or injury, family planning and surgical procedures. These are delivered from both sites.

The practice offers services from both a main practice and a branch surgery. Patients can access services at either surgery.

At the time of inspection the practice was situated within the Halton and Warrington Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). The practice now sits within Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care System (ICS). It delivers Personal Medical Services (PMS) to a patient population of about 11552 patients. This is part of a contract held with NHS England.

The practice is part of Central and West Warrington Primary Care Network (PCN).

Information published by Public Health England shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the third lowest decile (three of ten). The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice population is relative to others.

According to the latest available data, the ethnic make-up of the practice area is 94.7% White, 3.4% Asian, 1.1% Mixed, 0.4% Black and 0.4% Other.

There are a higher number of working age and young people registered at the practice compared to the national average and a lower number of older people.

There is a team of four GPs who provide cover at both practices. The practice has a team of four nurses who provide nurse led clinics for long-term condition of use of both the main and the branch locations. They are supported by two healthcare assistants. The GPs are supported at the practice by a team of reception/administration staff. The practice business manager and practice operations manager are based at the main location to provide managerial oversight.

The main practice is open from 8.30am -6.30pm Monday to Friday. The branch surgery is open from 8am – 8pm Monday to Friday and 9am-1pm on a Saturday. The practice offers a range of appointment types including book on the day, telephone and video consultations and advance appointments. Patients were directed to NHS 111 when the surgery was closed.

Updated 11 August 2022

We carried out an announced inspection at Dr Alagu Rajkumar, also known as The Eric Moore Partnership, on 29 and 30 June 2022. Overall, the practice is rated as outstanding with the following key question ratings:

Safe - good

Effective – good

Caring – good

Responsive - outstanding

Well-led - outstanding

Following our previous inspection on 19 April 2016 the practice was rated as good overall good for providing safe, caring, effective and well-led services. It was rated as outstanding for providing responsive services.

The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Dr Alagu Rajkumar on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we carried out this inspection

This inspection was a planned comprehensive inspection and carried out as part of our inspection programme.

How we carried out the inspection

Throughout the pandemic CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, taking into account the circumstances arising as a result of the pandemic, and in order to reduce risk, we have conducted our inspections differently.

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

• Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing
• Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system and discussing findings with the provider
• Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider
• Requesting evidence from the provider
• Gathering feedback from patients
• A short site visit

Our findings

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 outstanding overall.

We found that:

• 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.
• There was a good working relationship with the Patient Participation Group (PPG), which supported the practice with patient interaction and improving service delivery.
• The practice adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
• The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.
• Staff at all levels were encouraged to speak up and raise concerns.
• There was a proactive approach to understanding the needs and preferences of different groups of people and to delivering care in a way which meets those needs, which was accessible and promoted equality.
• Services were developed with the full participation of those who use them, staff and external partners.
• Staff who worked at the practice were consistently positive about teamwork; being involved in decision making; and being supported to carry out their roles.

The practice is rated outstanding because:

• Services were tailored to meet the needs of individual people and were delivered in a way to ensure flexibility, choice and continuity of care.
• The practice had identified areas where there were gaps in provision locally and had taken steps to address them, particularly through their work with vulnerable patient groups.
• The practice proactively assessed and reviewed the needs of its patient population and adjusted its workforce and appointment system accordingly.
• The features which had been identified as contributing to the outstanding rating for responsive at the previous inspection had continued to evolve and strengthen in the intervening five-year period.
• There was evidence of external networking at local, regional and national level. This helped to drive internal improvements and facilitated the sharing of best practice and improved care to patients, particularly those whose circumstances may make them vulnerable.
• The service took a leadership role in its health system to identify and proactively address challenges and meet the needs of the patient population. The provider participated in research projects and used internal audit and quality improvement programs to review and improve care and treatment. There was a focus on sharing the work of the practice locally and nationally as well as a shared commitment at all levels to learn from others.

The provider should:

• Continue to promote uptake of cervical screening and childhood immunisations.
• Continue to review patients on repeat medicines as required.

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