Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

On 26 July 2016 we carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr H Okoi Practice. The overall rating for the practice was good with requires improvement for providing safe services. The full comprehensive report for this inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Dr H Okoi Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

We issued the practice with a requirement notice in relation to safe care and treatment. We then carried out a desk-based focused inspection on 13 July 2017 to confirm that the practice were now meeting the legal requirements in relation to the breach of regulation that we identified in our previous inspection on 26 July 2016. This report covers our findings in relation to those requirements and also additional improvements made since our last inspection.

Overall the practice is rated as good, with the ‘Safe’ domain now rated as good.

Our key findings were as follows:

• The practice provided us with an updated list of all emergency medicines located in a secure area accessible to staff. All relevant medicines required in an emergency were stocked by the practice.

• The practice was driven and had promoted the carers scheme since the last inspection. They had identified 83 patients as a carer which was 1.5% of their patient list compared to 18 patients which amounted to 0.3% in July 2016. The practice had sent letters and displayed information within their waiting area to encourage patients to consider whether they were carers. The practice had a carers champion dedicated to coordinating support and healthcare benefits for registered carers.

• The business continuity plan which was reviewed in December 2016 contained relevant information and contact details needed in an emergency.

• The system for managing patient safety and medicine alerts was effective, appropriate action was taken and recorded. The practice had nominated an individual since the previous inspection to review and check that safety alerts were being appropriately monitored.  

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

On 26 July 2016 we carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr H Okoi Practice. The overall rating for the practice was good with requires improvement for providing safe services. The full comprehensive report for this inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Dr H Okoi Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

We issued the practice with a requirement notice in relation to safe care and treatment. We then carried out a desk-based focused inspection on 13 July 2017 to confirm that the practice were now meeting the legal requirements in relation to the breach of regulation that we identified in our previous inspection on 26 July 2016. This report covers our findings in relation to those requirements and also additional improvements made since our last inspection.

Overall the practice is rated as good, with the ‘Safe’ domain now rated as good.

Our key findings were as follows:

• The practice provided us with an updated list of all emergency medicines located in a secure area accessible to staff. All relevant medicines required in an emergency were stocked by the practice.

• The practice was driven and had promoted the carers scheme since the last inspection. They had identified 83 patients as a carer which was 1.5% of their patient list compared to 18 patients which amounted to 0.3% in July 2016. The practice had sent letters and displayed information within their waiting area to encourage patients to consider whether they were carers. The practice had a carers champion dedicated to coordinating support and healthcare benefits for registered carers.

• The business continuity plan which was reviewed in December 2016 contained relevant information and contact details needed in an emergency.

• The system for managing patient safety and medicine alerts was effective, appropriate action was taken and recorded. The practice had nominated an individual since the previous inspection to review and check that safety alerts were being appropriately monitored.  

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out this inspection to check that the required improvements to the services offered to patients had been achieved.

When we last inspected the practice we identified areas where improvements were required. There were ineffective systems to fully protect patients against the risks associated with medicines and patients complained that they had difficulty accessing appointments.

We inspected the practice on 07 August 2014. At this time we found that the required improvements had been achieved.

There were arrangements for ensuring that medicines were stored safely and securely. Stock levels were regularly checked to ensure that there were sufficient medicines available to treat patients. Checks were carried out to ensure that medicines were used or disposed of before the manufacturer's 'use by' date.

The systems for offering patient's appointments had been reviewed. Locum GP's were employed to support the practice. A variety of appointments were made available to patients including telephone, Skype and face -to-face consultations. From computerised appointment records we saw that there were a number of available appointments each day to accommodate patients.

We carried out this inspection after receiving information that medicines were not being properly managed and that there were not enough appointments available to safeguard people who use the service.

We spoke with one person who was using the service at the time of our inspection. They said the treatment they received from the practice was usually good, but they were upset that they had had to take a day off work to come into the surgery to get a repeat prescription. They said the surgery had contacted them to come into to see the doctor, but they had then had difficulty getting an appointment. They said that getting an appointment at the surgery was always very difficult.

Our inspection found non-compliance and that improvements were required in medicines management and staffing.