Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of Western Ave Medical Centre on 26 July 2016. The overall rating for the practice was Good. The full comprehensive report on the July 2016 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Western Ave Medical Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
This inspection was a desk-based review carried out on 20 January 2017 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 26 July 2016. This report covers our findings in relation to those requirements and also additional improvements made since our last inspection.
Overall the practice is rated as Good.
Our key findings were as follows:
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The provider had ensured the premises were safely maintained. Evidence of a satisfactory electrical wiring inspection had been made available.
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Action had been taken to ensure that a record of the required staff recruitment information was maintained.
The following improvements to the service had also been made:
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A system for documenting reviews of significant events had been introduced.
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A system for demonstrating that patient safety alerts were being received and the action taken was in place.
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Action had been taken to ensure the safety of the premises. Regular checks of the emergency lighting were taking place and action had been taken to address the security risk presented by the windows.
- The procedure clinical staff follow to ensure their equipment and instruments are suitably cleaned was being recorded.
There were areas of practice where the provider must make improvements are:
- Staff must receive the training necessary for their roles.
At our previous inspection we identified that the service should improve their training records to assist with the monitoring and planning for staff training needs. At this visit this had been completed. However this identified a number of training shortfalls. A training plan was provided showing how these shortfalls were to be addressed over the next six months. As a consequence of the outstanding training the practice is rated as requires improvement for providing effective services.
Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)
Chief Inspector of General Practice