We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Hatton Medical Practice on 28 September 2017. The overall rating for the practice was requires improvement. The practice was rated as requires improvement for providing safe and caring services as the practice had not taken action on areas related to safety within the practice environment and patients rated the practice lower than others in relation to a number of aspects of caring. The full comprehensive report on the September 2017 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Hatton Medical Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
This inspection was an announced comprehensive inspection carried out on 16 October 2018 to confirm that the practice had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breaches in regulations that we identified in our previous inspection on 28 September 2017. This report covers our findings in relation to those requirements and also additional improvements made since our last inspection.
The practice is now rated as good in all key questions.
The practice is now rated good overall.
The key questions at this inspection are rated as:
Are services safe? – Good
Are services effective? – Good
Are services caring? – Good
Are services responsive? – Good
Are services well-led? - Good
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.
- Since our last inspection the practice had implemented safety systems to improve prescription security, mandatory training updates for staff, documenting significant events discussed at practice meetings, and monitoring cleaning schedules.
- 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.
- Since our last inspection the practice had improved the number of carers identified and patient feedback relating to caring questions, although some questions relating to consultations remained below average in the 2018 national GP patient survey.
- Feedback from patients we spoke with and CQC comments cards stated 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 focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation. The practice was proactive in monitoring performance to ensure improvements implemented were sustained.
The areas where the provider should make improvements are:
- Take action to ensure all staff are aware of the location of emergency equipment.
- Take interim action to identify and minimise the infection control risks associated with the flooring and walls in consulting rooms.
- Continue to review and improve uptake for childhood immunisations, and cervical and bowel cancer screening.
- Continue to review and improve patient satisfaction with consultations.
- Monitor coding for patients on the atrial fibrillation and rheumatoid arthritis disease registers.
Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice
Please refer to the evidence tables for further information.