We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 20 February 2018 to ask the service the following key questions; Are services safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led?

Our findings were:

Are services safe?

We found that this service was providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations

Are services effective?

We found that this service was providing effective care in accordance with the relevant regulations

Are services caring?

We found that this service was providing caring services in accordance with the relevant regulations

Are services responsive?

We found that this service was providing responsive care in accordance with the relevant regulations

Are services well-led?

We found that this service was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the service was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

The provider supplies private general practitioner services.

Dr Lianne De Maar is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

We reviewed 40 CQC patient comment cards, 37 of which were exclusively positive about the service provided. The comment cards stated that staff were caring and considerate and appointments were easy and convenient to access. Negative comments included suggestions from one patient that some tests provided by the service might be unnecessary and one patient stated that they did not always feel listened to.

Our key findings were:

• There was a system in place for acting on significant events.
• Risks were generally well managed though mechanisms for ensuring that urgent test results and patient safety alerts were actioned were insufficient.
• There were arrangements in place to protect children and vulnerable adults for abuse.
• Staff had received essential training and adequate recruitment and monitoring information was held for staff.
• Care and treatment was provided in accordance with current guidelines.
• Patient feedback indicated that staff were respectful and caring and appointments were easily accessible.
• The practice responded to patient complaints in line with their policy.
• There was a clear vision and strategy and staff spoke of an open and supportive culture. There was effective governance in most areas to ensure risks were addressed and patients were kept safe.

There were areas where the provider could make improvements and should:

• Implement systems to ensure urgent referrals are followed up and clinicians are alerted of safeguarding concerns when accessing clinical records.
• Draft policies which reflect variations at each site.