Updated 23 December 2016
Background
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the service was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
Community Clinics Ltd was established in May 2010 and offered community clinics within a primary care setting to NHS patients. They are mainly located on the first floor of a GP practice. They also offer clinics from another site, Oliver Road Polyclinic. They offered Colorectal, TNS (Tibia Nerve Stimulation) for faecal incontinence and Gynaecology clinics. The clinic only saw patients who were over eighteen years of age.
The clinic treats and discharges patients in a single visit and as such the clinic does not keep a patient list.
One of the Clinics directors is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission 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.
The clinic has a medical director, clinical director and a managing director. They employ four locum consultants to provide the clinics. Other staff include a Senior Administrator, two Typist/Administrators, three Health Care Assistant/Admin Assistants and five Clinical Assistant/Admin Assistants. All of whom worked a combination of full and part time hours.
Community Clinics Ltd opened Mondays 2pm until 6pm for Gynaecology Clinics, Thursday 1.30pm until 6pm for Colorectal Clinics and have agreed appointment times Monday to Friday for TNS clinics. A Gynaecology Ultrasound Clinic was held on Tuesday when required. However, office hours were Monday to Friday 9am until 6pm. At Oliver Road Polyclinic, a Gynaecology Clinic was held every Tuesday from 9.30am until 6pm and a Colorectal Clinic every Wednesday from 9.30am until 6pm.
As part of our inspection we asked for CQC comment cards to be completed by patients prior to our inspection. We received 90 comment cards which were all positive about the standard of care received. Patients felt that they had received a good service and the staff were efficient, caring and helpful. Patients also commented on the professionalism of the clinicians. There were however some comments about waiting times being too long on the day of appointments.
Our key findings were:
- There was an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
- Risks to patients were always assessed and well managed, including those relating to recruitment checks.
- The clinic had a number of policies and procedures to govern activity.
- Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance.
- Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
- Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
- The clinic had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
- There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management.
- The clinic proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
- The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour.
The areas where the provider should make improvement are:
Ensure all staff receive annual basic life support training.