Care Quality Commission’s inspection programme helps Oldham surgery improve patient care

Published: 28 February 2018 Page last updated: 3 November 2022
Categories
Media

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has found the quality of care provided by Lees Medical Practice, Oldham to be Good after an inspection in December 2017. During a previous inspection in April 2017 the service was deemed to be inadequate and placed in special measures.

At this latest inspection, the service was rated as Good for effectiveness, caring, responsiveness and well-led and Requires Improvement for safety.

Read the latest inspection report.

Some of the features from the latest inspection include:

  • Significant improvements had been made throughout the practice. All staff had been involved in discussions around the improvements, and new staff had been recruited to help in many parts of the practice.
  • Inspectors could see that Improvements had been made to the way training, including induction training, was managed. The practice manager had devised a training passport so all staff were aware of what training should be completed and what the timescales were.
  • Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it. In addition staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect. 

Beverly Cole, CQC’s Head of General Practice – North   said:

“The practice has made very good progress since the last inspection and had addressed many areas of concern. We found improvements in the overall governance arrangements, clinical governance, leadership and clinical effectiveness. There has clearly been a concerted effort to improve all aspects of the practice – it deserves its new rating of Good

“The practice had clearly learnt from their previous inspection. At this inspection we found these arrangements had improved. The practice had developed and improved their approach to carrying out clinical audits. Monthly documented multi-disciplinary team meeting took place and end of life care was coordinated.

“The leadership within the practice was good. Inspectors could see that leaders at all levels were visible and approachable. They worked with staff and others to make sure they prioritised compassionate and inclusive leadership. The practice had effective processes to develop leadership capacity and skills, including planning for the future leadership of the practice

“I applaud the practice for having taken action to address the areas of improvement raised during our previous inspection. Arrangements in respect of policies had been rated inadequate. However at this inspection we found they had improved. The practice had updated their policies and made sure staff were aware of these. Leaders had made significant improvements

“Lees Medical Practice has made very good progress, consequently it has been taken out of special measures and I feel sure it will continue to make good progress.”

ENDS

For further information please contact CQC Regional Engagement Manager, David Fryer by email david.fryer@cqc.org.uk or by phone on 07754 438750 

Journalists wishing to speak to the press office outside of office hours can find out how to contact the team here.

Please note: the press office is unable to advise members of the public on health or social care matters. For general enquiries, please call 03000 61 61 61.

The practice has made very good progress since the last inspection and had addressed many areas of concern.

Beverly Cole, Head of General Practice – North

About the Care Quality Commission

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England.

We make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and we encourage care services to improve.

We monitor, inspect and regulate services to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety and we publish what we find to help people choose care.