Riverhouse Medical Practice

Updated 20 October 2016

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced focussed inspection of Riverhouse Medical Practice on 17 August 2016, overall the practice was rated as good.

We conducted this inspection following a comprehensive inspection on 10 December 2015 where breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 were found. The practice was previously rated as inadequate for providing safe services, and requires improvement for providing responsive services and being well led; the population groups were all rated as requires improvement.

After the comprehensive inspection, the practice submitted an action plan, outlining what they would do to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breaches of:

• Regulation 12 (Safe care and treatment);
• Regulation 13 (Safeguarding services users from abuse and improper treatment)
• Regulation 16 (Receiving and acting on complaints ); and
• Regulation 17 (Good governance).

This report covers our findings in relation to those requirements and also where additional improvements have been made following the initial inspection. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Riverhouse Medical Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

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

• Systems were in place to keep patients safe and safeguarded from abuse.
• Processes were in place to ensure that the administration of medicines was safe.
• Information about how to complain was available and easy to understand. The practice recorded both written and verbal complaints, and improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns.

• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Processes were in place to ensure that staff kept their knowledge and skills up to date.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 20 October 2016

The practice was previously rated as Requires Improvement for the care of people with long-term conditions, as the provider was rated as inadequate for safety and requires improvement for responsive and well led. The issues identified as requiring improvement overall affected all patients including this population group. Following the re-inspection, the practice is rated as Good for all domains, and is therefore rated as Good for the care of people with long-term conditions.

Updated 20 October 2016

The practice was previously rated as Requires Improvement for the care of families, children and younger people, as the provider was rated as inadequate for safety and requires improvement for responsive and well led. The issues identified as requiring improvement overall affected all patients including this population group. Following the re-inspection, the practice is rated as Good for all domains, and is therefore rated as Good for the care of families, children and younger people.

Updated 20 October 2016

The practice was previously rated as Requires Improvement for the care of older people, as the provider was rated as inadequate for safety and requires improvement for responsive and well led. The issues identified as requiring improvement overall affected all patients including this population group. Following the re-inspection, the practice is rated as Good for all domains, and is therefore rated as Good for the care of older people.

Updated 20 October 2016

The practice was previously rated as Requires Improvement for the care of working age people (including those recently retired and students), as the provider was rated as inadequate for safety and requires improvement for responsive and well led. The issues identified as requiring improvement overall affected all patients including this population group. Following the re-inspection, the practice is rated as Good for all domains, and is therefore rated as Good for the care of working age people (including those recently retired and students). 

Updated 20 October 2016

The practice was previously rated as Requires Improvement for the care of people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia), as the provider was rated as inadequate for safety and requires improvement for responsive and well led. The issues identified as requiring improvement overall affected all patients including this population group. Following the re-inspection, the practice is rated as Good for all domains, and is therefore rated as Good for the care of people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia). 

Updated 20 October 2016

The practice was previously rated as Requires Improvement for the care of people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable, as the provider was rated as inadequate for safety and requires improvement for responsive and well led. The issues identified as requiring improvement overall affected all patients including this population group. Following the re-inspection, the practice is rated as Good for all domains, and is therefore rated as Good for the care of people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable.