1 December 2017
During a routine inspection
Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice
This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection February 2017 – Requires Improvement)
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
As part of our inspection process, we also look at the quality of care for specific population groups. The population groups are rated as:
Older People – Good
People with long-term conditions – Good
Families, children and young people – Good
Working age people (including those recently retired and students – Good
People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable – Good
People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia) - Good
We undertook a comprehensive inspection of Dr Eric Paul on 6 January 2017 under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. The practice was rated as requires improvement for providing safe, effective, caring and well led services and good for providing responsive services. Overall the practice was rated as requires improvement and Requirement Notices were issued in respect of breaches in:
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Regulation 12 HSCA (RA) Regulations 2014 Safe care and treatment;
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Regulation 17 HSCA (RA) Regulations 2014 Good governance;
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Regulation 18 HSCA (RA) Regulations 2014 Staffing.
The full comprehensive report following the inspection in January 2017 can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Dr Eric Paul on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
We undertook a comprehensive inspection of Dr Eric Paul on 1 December 2017 to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
During our visit we:
- Spoke with a range of staff including the principal GP, Practice Nurse, Practice Manager and reception staff and spoke with patients who used the service.
- Observed how patients were being cared for in the reception area.
- 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.
- Looked at information the practice used to deliver care and treatment plans.
At this inspection we found:
- The practice had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes.
- The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
- Clinical audit had a positive impact on quality of care and outcomes for patients.
- Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
- Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
- There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.
The areas where the provider should make improvements are:
- Ensure that infection prevention control audits are completed annually.
Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)
Chief Inspector of General Practice