The Care Quality Commission
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Archived: Old Palace Medical Practice

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

148 Old Palace Road, Norwich, Norwich, Norfolk, NR2 4JA (01603) 663363

Provided and run by:
Coastal Villages Practice (Ormesby Village Surgery)

All Inspections

28 October 2015

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Old Palace Medical Practice on 28th October 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows;

  • Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses. Information about safety was recorded, monitored, appropriately reviewed and addressed.

  • Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.

  • Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance. Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and any further training needs had been identified and planned.

  • 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.

  • Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and that there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.

  • The practice 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 practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.

Outstanding elements

  • The Coastal Partnership had employed a Pharmacist to ensure the practice was prescribing in line with best practice guidelines for safe prescribing.

  • The practice was part of a pilot scheme led by Norwich Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to reduce the amount of acute bed days in both general and psychiatric admissions with positive results.

However there were areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.

Importantly the provider should:

  • Ensure the business continuity plan is reviewed and amended with accurate up to date information

  • Ensure during recruitment checks that photographic identification is kept in all personnel files

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

25 February 2014

During a routine inspection

We read seven computerised patient records. We saw that notes of discussions and of the obtaining of consent had been made. For example, parental consent had been obtained prior to the administration of immunisations to a young child. Patients told us that decisions were explained clearly and that options for treatments were given to them. One person said "I think you get treated like an individual." This showed us that the practice encouraged and enabled patients to be involved in decisions about their own treatment.

Computerised patient records were completed in a consistent style. Notes had been made about the content of the consultation, the problems identified and the proposed treatments. We saw that correspondence, such as test results or discharge letters, had been uploaded to the records in a timely manner.

The practice had a number of systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of its services. The practice held monthly meetings where critical incidents and significant events were discussed and acted upon. Complaints were investigated and responded to within agreed timescales. This showed us that the practice responded to incidents and implemented changes when necessary.

The practice monitored the quality of its management of long-term health problems by using the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QoF). This showed us that patients benefitted from safe, quality care because the practice had put in place effective systems for decision making.