Archived: Upminster Medical Centre

Updated 16 August 2022

Upminster Medical Centre is situated within NHS Havering Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). The practice provides services to approximately 3400 patients under a Alternative Provider Medical Services (APMS) contract (an agreement between NHS England and general practices for delivering primary care services). The practice is currently run by a caretaker provider called the Hurley Group as part of their wider network of GP practices. They are on a ‘rolling’ three month contract.

The practice is registered with the CQC to carry on the following regulated activities: Diagnostic and screening procedures; Family planning; Maternity and midwifery services; Surgical procedures; and Treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

The clinical team at the practice consists of two GP’s, two female practice nurses and a pharmacist (half a day a week). Non-clinical staff include a practice manager and a team of reception and administrative staff members. The practice is open from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday.

Information published by Public Health England shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the highest decile (10 of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice population is relative to others.

National General Practice Profile describes the practice ethnicity as being 92.9% white, 3.7% Asian, 1.6% black, 1.5% mixed race, and 0.4% other ethnicities.

Updated 16 August 2022

We carried out an announced inspection at Upminster Medical Centre on 22 June 2022. Overall, the practice is rated as Good.

Set out the ratings for each key question

Safe - Good

Effective - Good

Caring - Good

Responsive - Good

Well-led - Good

Why we carried out this inspection

This inspection was a comprehensive inspection planned to check whether the service was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008

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/review 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

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

We found that:

• The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
• Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
• Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
• The practice adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
• 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:

• Review the system in place for carrying out daily fridge checks to ensure it’s effective.

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

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care