Norton Medical Centre

We carried out an announced inspection at Norton Medical Centre on 15/16 and 30 November 2022. Overall, the practice is rated as Good.

The ratings for each key question are:

Safe - Good

Effective – Good

Caring - Not inspected, rating of good carried forward from previous inspection

Responsive – Requires improvement

Well-led - Good

Following our previous inspection on 23 September 2015, the practice was rated as good overall and in all five key questions was the practice safe, effective, caring and well led. The key questions, was the practice responsive, was rated as requires improvement. This was the practice’s only previous inspection.

The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Norton Medical Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Why we carried out this inspection

This inspection was a focused inspection carried out in line with our inspection priorities.

How we carried out the inspection

Throughout the pandemic CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, taking into account the circumstances arising as a result of the pandemic, and in order to reduce risk, we have conducted our inspections differently.

This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site. This was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements.

This included:

• Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing
• Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system and discussing findings with the provider
• Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider
• Requesting evidence from the provider
• A short site visit
• Staff questionnaires

Our findings

We based our judgement of the quality of care at this service on a combination of:

• what we found when we inspected.
• information from our ongoing monitoring of data about services and
• information from the provider, patients, the public and other organisations.

We have rated this practice as Good overall.

We found that:

• The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
• Patients experienced poor access however, the provider was committed to exploring ways at addressing this.
• Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
• Staff were appropriately trained to carry out their roles.
• Staff maintained the necessary skills and competence to support the needs of patients.
• Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
• The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.

Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:

• Ensure that a risk assessment is carried out for all staff that are not required to complete a DBS check.
• Continue to monitor and reduce summarised patient notes.
• Continue to monitor and seek improvements for appointments and access in line with new and emerging technologies.

Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

Chief Inspector of Hospitals and Interim Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services