Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Borough Green Medical Practice on 17 August 2016. The overall rating for the practice was good. The practice was rated as requires improvement for providing safe services and rated as good for providing effective, caring, responsive and well-led services. The full comprehensive report on the August 2016 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Borough Green Medical Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

This inspection was an announced focused inspection carried out on 2 November 2017, to confirm that the practice had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements, in relation to the breaches in regulations that we identified in our previous inspection on 17 August 2016. This report covers our findings in relation to those requirements and also additional improvements made since our last inspection.

Overall the practice remains rated as good.

Our key findings were as follows:

• The practice had received approval for funding to replace the clinical hand wash basins in all rooms to comply with Department of Health guidance. There was a programme of work to complete all clinical rooms by March 2018.
• All carpets in the practice were deep cleaned every six months, and ad hoc deep cleaning was available if required. All privacy curtains at the practice were disposable and were replaced every six months, or sooner if required.
• A standard operating procedure had been developed to ensure that the dosage, type and batch number of local anaesthetics were recorded in the notes of patients undergoing minor surgery at the practice.
• The practice had adequate supplies of emergency medicines and equipment and had a process to ensure these were in date and fit for use.
• The practice had undertaken a review of their practice of leaving non-urgent correspondence for patients’ usual doctors to deal with on their return from periods of absence. They looked at 387 non-urgent items for one of the doctors over a two week period and found none that required urgent action. They had concluded that, as the practice had not led to any urgent matters being overlooked, it would remain in place.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

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Chief Inspector of General Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Borough Green Medical Practice on 17 August 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system for reporting and recording significant events.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• The practice had developed a wide range of other services for patients. The practice objective was to place the patients at the heart of the services, rather than the patients being sent through the health care system to access the services.
• The practice recognised that the effective governance of the dispensary was particularly important, as they dispensed medicines to approximately 5,600 patients. They had appointed a dispensary manager, two senior dispensers, four dispensers and a dispensary receptionist, in order to ensure the dispensary was managed and governed to a high standard.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

The areas where the provider must make improvements are:

• Ensure that action is taken to address the areas of concern identified in the infection control audit.

• Ensure that systems to routinely check the equipment used in emergencies are safe. In order to ensure equipment is within its expiry date, sterile and fit for purpose.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Continue to ensure that the recording of medicines used during minor surgery are appropriately recorded.

• Continue to ensure there is a system to check and respond to all routine correspondence sent to the practice by other service providers.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Borough Green Medical Practice on 17 August 2016. The overall rating for the practice was good. The practice was rated as requires improvement for providing safe services and rated as good for providing effective, caring, responsive and well-led services. The full comprehensive report on the August 2016 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Borough Green Medical Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

This inspection was an announced focused inspection carried out on 2 November 2017, to confirm that the practice had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements, in relation to the breaches in regulations that we identified in our previous inspection on 17 August 2016. This report covers our findings in relation to those requirements and also additional improvements made since our last inspection.

Overall the practice remains rated as good.

Our key findings were as follows:

• The practice had received approval for funding to replace the clinical hand wash basins in all rooms to comply with Department of Health guidance. There was a programme of work to complete all clinical rooms by March 2018.
• All carpets in the practice were deep cleaned every six months, and ad hoc deep cleaning was available if required. All privacy curtains at the practice were disposable and were replaced every six months, or sooner if required.
• A standard operating procedure had been developed to ensure that the dosage, type and batch number of local anaesthetics were recorded in the notes of patients undergoing minor surgery at the practice.
• The practice had adequate supplies of emergency medicines and equipment and had a process to ensure these were in date and fit for use.
• The practice had undertaken a review of their practice of leaving non-urgent correspondence for patients’ usual doctors to deal with on their return from periods of absence. They looked at 387 non-urgent items for one of the doctors over a two week period and found none that required urgent action. They had concluded that, as the practice had not led to any urgent matters being overlooked, it would remain in place.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

​

Chief Inspector of General Practice