The Red Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

When we visited The Red Practice on 9 August 2016, to carry out a comprehensive inspection, we rated them as requires improvement overall.  We rated them as good for the provision of caring and well-led services, and requires improvement for the provision of safe, effective and responsive services.  Following this inspection we told the practice they must:

• Ensure infection control measures, including cleaning systems are maintained and the infection control action plan is fully implemented.
• Ensure that all staff have received the training, as required in order to undertake their role.
• Ensure that recruitment records are complete and include proof of identity.
• Ensure all staff who have unsupervised access to patients have been subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.
• Review the appraisal system in order to ensure all staff have had an appraisal and the records of these are maintained on file.
• Review and take steps to improve patient telephone access to the service.

This inspection was an announced focused follow up inspection carried out on 28 July 2017. Its purpose was to confirm that the practice had carried out their action plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breaches in regulations that we identified at our previous inspection. This report covers our findings in relation to those requirements. This report should be read in conjunction with the full report of our inspection on 9 August 2016, which can be found on our website at www.cqc.org.uk .   Please note that since our last inspection the practice has changed their name to The Red Practice. Previously the practice was called Dr Sillick and Partners.

The practice is now rated as good for the provision of safe, effective and responsive services. Overall the practice is now rated as good.

Our key findings were as follows:

• All staff who had unsupervised access to patients had been subject to a DBS check.
• The practice was concerned about the standard of the cleaning service that was being provided by the building owners. We saw evidence the practice had taken appropriate steps to resolve the issue.
• Clinical staff told us they always checked treatment rooms prior to using them and ensured the rooms were fit for purpose.
• All staff had  undertaken the essential training required in order to undertake their duties in line with their role and responsibilities.
• The recruitment records of staff that had beenrecruited since our last inspection were complete and included proof of identity.  The practice had reviewed the records of all other staff and ensured they had proof of individuals identity on file.
• All staff had, had an appraisal within the last 12 months and  records of these were maintained on file.
• The practice had recruited an additional receptionist whose main role was answering and responding to telephone calls.
• We saw data which showed patient feedback regarding getting access to the service had improved.  For example, 70% of patients described their experience of making an appointment as good compared with the clinical commissioning group average of 70% and the national average of 73%. This was a significant improvement from the previous year’s survey when this area scored 59%.

However, there were areas of practice where the provider should make improvements.   The provider should:

• Continue to take action to resolve their concerns about the cleaning service they receive and ensure an adequate standard is maintained on a day by day basis.
• Continue to monitor, review and take steps to improve patient telephone access to the service.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice