A Hackney GP practice, which specialises in looking after homeless patients, has been rated Outstanding overall by the Care Quality Commission.
The Greenhouse practice in Tudor Road, Hackney, was rated Outstanding for being safe, responsive and well-led. It was rated Good for being effective and caring.
Forty percent of its 1,000 patients are rough sleepers whilst 60% live in hostels or other temporary accommodation. Ninety-six percent of patients have at least one long-standing condition whilst 75% have three or more long standing conditions. Approximately 75% of the practice population is male and 25% are female.
CQC inspectors saw many areas of Outstanding care:
- The practice did not place a limit on the number of walk-in appointments available on any day so that patients who found it difficult to book appointments in advance or who struggled to adhere to scheduled appointments, could access GP services in a way that suited them.
- A specialist substance and alcohol misuse clinician at the practice offered and delivered alcohol and substance reduction programmes.
- The practice had reviewed the patient list within the previous year and had identified an increasing number of Polish and Vietnamese speaking patients registering. It had arranged for a Vietnamese speaking interpreter from a local hospital to attend the practice weekly and had employed its own Polish speaking translator who also attended the practice one day per week. Patients said this had significantly improved their access to health services.
However, there were some areas where the practice should make improvements, including:
- Review and improve how patients with caring responsibilities are identified and recorded on the clinical system to ensure that information, advice and support is made available to them.
- The practice should review arrangements in place to ensure a patient has access to a female GP if this is requested.
Professor Ursula Gallagher, CQC Deputy Chief Inspector of GP Practices, said:
“The work done at The Greenhouse Practice is inspirational and it thoroughly deserves its Outstanding rating."
“Feedback from patients about their care was consistently positive. There was a strong, open and embedded culture at the practice in respect of patient safety and the practice used every opportunity to learn from incidents. We observed a genuine open culture in which all safety concerns raised by staff were highly valued and integral to learning and improvement."
“All staff were encouraged to participate in learning and to improve safety as much as possible.”
The full report is available to download on our website.
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The work done at The Greenhouse Practice is inspirational and it thoroughly deserves its Outstanding rating
Professor Ursula Gallagher, CQC Deputy Chief Inspector of GP Practices