Archived: Everton Road Surgery and Merseyview Walk in Centre

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

This is the report from our inspection of Everton Road Surgery and Merseyview Walk in Centre. Both services are operated by the company SSP Health Ltd. and are located in the same building, Everton Road Health Centre. (This report does not cover other services that are available within the health centre.)

Everton Road Surgery and Merseyview Walk in Centre are registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide primary care services. Both the practice and walk in centre are registered as one location. SSP Health Ltd. was caretaking the walk in centre at the time of our inspection. The overarching policies and procedures were the same for both services. One GP lead was in charge of overseeing both services.

We undertook a planned, comprehensive inspection on the 21 October 2014 at Everton Road Surgery and Merseyview Walk in Centre. We reviewed information we held about the services and spoke with patients, GPs, and staff.

Both the practice and walk in centre were rated as Good overall. There were some elements of the practice and walk in centre that could be improved but both services provided good care to the population it served.

Our key findings were as follows:

• There were systems in place to mitigate safety risks. The premises were clean and tidy. Systems were in place to ensure medication including vaccines were appropriately stored and in date.

• Both the practice and walk in centre were effective. Patients had their needs assessed in line with current guidance and the practice promoted health education to empower patients to live healthier lives.

• Both the practice and walk in centre were caring. Feedback from patients and observations throughout our inspection highlighted the staff were kind, caring and helpful.

• Both the practice and walk in centre were responsive and acted on patient complaints and feedback.

• Both the practice and walk in centre were well led. The staff worked well together as a team and had regular staff meetings and training.

However, there were also areas of both the practice and walk in centre where the provider could make improvements. 

The provider should:

• Complete the induction mandatory training for recently recruited members of staff.

• Complete the appraisal process for staff, in particular the nursing staff.
• Ensure more robust security arrangements for checking the stock of prescription forms.
• Ensure only a GP carries out a medication review.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice