Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 27 September 2018 to ask the service the following key questions: are services safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led?

SAFAR Primary Care Ltd at COLBEA was registered with the Care Quality Commission on 20 November 2017 to carry out the regulated activity the treatment of disease, disorder or injury. At the time of the inspection the service was not fully operational and as such has not registered any patients. Therefore, this inspection looked at the systems and processes they had in place in order to assure ourselves that effective care and treatment would be received by patients in the future. Once the provider is actually providing the services for patients we will need to carry out a further inspection.

The service will offer online GP video consultations to patients, through a web-based portal or mobile phone application. The service was developed to deliver UK quality healthcare to patients at living in the UK or whilst travelling abroad. An appointment is selected by the patient and a GP then joins the video call with the patient through a secure connection. If appropriate, a prescription is issued and sent via secure fax to the pharmacy closest to the patient to be fulfilled. The services are delivered by the provider through a website; www.getsafar.com and a mobile phone application called ‘Get Safar’.

Findings from our inspection on 27 September 2018 in relation to the key questions were as follows:

Are services safe? – we found the service had effective systems in place for providing a safe service in accordance with the relevant regulations. Specifically:

• The provider had ensured all staff had an understanding of safeguarding relevant to their role and arrangements were in place to safeguard people, this included arrangements to check patient identity.
• Once operational, we were told prescribing would be audited regularly to ensure it was in line with national guidance.

Are services effective? - we found the service had effective systems in place for providing an effective service in accordance with the relevant regulations. Specifically:

• The provider saw the continued update of the single record of care through engaging with registered GPs, as critical in the continued safe treatment of patients and to ensure effective prescribing and decision making.
• There was oversight of staff training and systems were in place to monitor training once additional staff had been recruited.

Are services caring? – we found the service had effective systems in place for providing a caring service in accordance with the relevant regulations. Specifically:

• Once a prescription was issued a follow up would be in place to ensure the prescription was fulfilled and the patient’s condition had improved.
• There was a GP profile for each GP so patients had access to information about GPs working at the service. This was available once registered to help patients when choosing the GP for the appointment.

Are services responsive? - we found the service had effective systems in place for providing a responsive service in accordance with the relevant regulations. Specifically:

• The website provided Information about how to access the service and stated that the service was available seven days a week.
• The complaint process was clear on the website and the provider would also take complaints verbally.
• The service would provide assistance to all population groups as long as it was appropriate and they were over 18.

Are services well-led? - we found the service had effective systems in place for providing a well-led service in accordance with the relevant regulations. Specifically:

• There was a clear leadership and governance structure. Both GPs worked closely with the IT consultancy who undertook work on the software to further develop and improve.
• The record system was designed to be searchable and therefore used to monitor and improve the quality and performance of the service.
• Systems were in place to ensure that all patient information was stored safely and kept confidential.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice