Background to this inspection
Updated
16 September 2021
Earls Barton Medical Centre is located at 8 Aggate Way, Earls Barton, Northamptonshire, NN6 0EU. There is also a branch, Penvale Park Medical Centre located at Hardwick Road, East Hunsbury, Northampton NN4 0GP.
The practice holds a Primary Medical Services contract and provides GP services to approximately 9,500 patients. The practice provides on-site pharmacy and dispenses medicines for those patients who live in excess of one mile from a pharmacy. The practice is managed by two GP partners. They are supported by locum GPs, locum nursing staff, dispensary staff and health care assistants. The practice also employs an interim practice manager, IT manager a team of receptionists, administrators and a medical secretary.
The practice has a registered manager in place. A registered manager is an individual registered with CQC to manage the regulated activities provided. The registered manager is one of the GP partners at the practice.
The practice is registered with the CQC to carry out the following regulated activities - diagnostic and screening procedures, family planning, maternity and midwifery services, surgical procedures, and treatment of disease, disorder or injury.
The practice is open from 8.00am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday. Urgent appointments are available on the day. Telephone consultations are available daily as required.
The practice has opted out of providing an out-of-hours service. However, the provider is available outside usual surgery hours, with the practice’s phone line being routed to an answering service, which will pass on messages. Otherwise, patients calling the practice when it is closed relate to the local out-of-hours service provider via NHS 111.
Updated
16 September 2021
We carried out an announced focused follow up inspection of Earls Barton Medical Centre and the branch, Penvale Park Medical Centre on 22 and 29 June 2021, to check whether the provider had improved following urgent enforcement action in May 2021. The previous unannounced focused inspection on 22 April 2021 was carried out in response to a number of concerns received about the practice and we imposed urgent conditions on the provider’s registration.
As a result of this follow up inspection we took further urgent enforcement action against the provider. At a Magistrate’s court hearing on 9 July 2021, the registration for provider and the registered manager were cancelled following approval of a court order for urgent cancellation of registration.
The local Clinical Commissioning Group arranged for a caretaker provider to continue the service provision at Earls Barton Medical Centre and its branch site.
The location was previously inspected on 7 October 2015 when we rated the practice as Good.
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.
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 and provider 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 site visit
We have rated this practice as Inadequate overall.
We rated the practice as Inadequate for providing safe, effective and well-led services because:
- The provider had only met two of the nine urgently imposed conditions of registration from our previous inspection.
- The practice continued to not have clear systems and processes to keep patients safe.
- Safeguarding processes and procedures were inadequate.
- Staff were not being safely recruited and we saw limited monitoring of clinical registrations. Supervision and appraisal with clinical staff had not taken place.