Poulter Road Medical Centre

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Poulter Road Medical Centre on 8 May 2019 as part of our inspection programme.

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 all population groups.

We found that:

• The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
• The practice organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. 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. Feedback from patients about this was excellent.
• The practice had clear systems to keep people safe and safeguarded from abuse. There were adequate systems to assess, monitor and manage risks to patient safety.
• Systems were in place to keep clinicians up to date with current evidence-based practice but there was a lack of evidence shown during the inspection to demonstrate these had always been followed.
• Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to carry out their roles. Staff worked together and with other health and social care professionals to deliver effective care and treatment.
• All of the patients we spoke with and the comments made to us told us that staff treated patients with kindness, respect and compassion. The practice respected patients’ privacy and dignity.
• The practice organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. They took account of the needs of its population and tailored services in response to those needs. Patients could access care and treatment from the practice within an acceptable timescale for their needs.
• The practice took complaints and concerns seriously and responded to them appropriately to improve the quality of care.
• Leaders were knowledgeable about issues and priorities relating to the quality and future of services. However, clinical leadership and oversight required improvements.
• There was a vision and set of values which were patient centred. The practice had a realistic strategy and supporting business plans to achieve priorities.
• Staff stated they felt respected, supported and valued.
• There was an effective, process to identify, understand, monitor and address current and future risks including risks to patient safety.
• Quality and operational information was used to ensure and improve performance. However, more small-scale searches needed to be completed. Performance information was combined with the views of patients.
• There was evidence of systems and processes for learning, continuous improvement and innovation.

Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:

• Undertake regular checks of the emergency medicines.

• Review the practice clinical governance systems to strengthen their approach to maintaining and improving the quality of patient care. This should include a review of the clinical leadership and oversight arrangements currently in place.

• Review how patient carers are supported within the practice.

• The practice should review their quality improvement activities and include the monitoring of patient outcomes in line with standards and evidence based guidance, such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). NICE Quality Standards (QS) are a way for practices to demonstrate that the care they deliver is high quality and evidence-based. The practice should widen the number and types of small scale data searches of clinical conditions as part of their quality improvement programme.

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