We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 28 March 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 practice was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

The Palmers Green Clinic provides a private general practice to the East European communities from countries including Russia, Lithuanian and Bulgaria.

The company director of Klinika 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.

Twenty nine people provided positive feedback about the service.

Our key findings were:

• The service had systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the service had a system to learn from them and improve.
• The service reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Services were provided to meet the needs of patients.
• Patient feedback for the services offered was consistently positive.
• There were clear responsibilities, roles and systems of accountability to support good governance and management.

There were areas where the provider could make improvements and should

• Review the business continuity plan.
• Review the way patients are made aware of access to chaperones.
• Review systems for monitoring safety alerts.

People told us they were very satisfied with the service they received at Palmers Green Clinic. They confirmed that they had enough information about their treatment and felt that they could always ask more questions if they needed to. One person commented, “I always get the service I need.”

All staff and doctors were originally from Eastern Europe and told us they spoke a number of languages such as Russian, Lithuanian, Polish and Romanian. The registered manager told us that most patients came from Eastern Europe, however, there were also a number of local people who used the service.

People told us that they had been treated with dignity and respect and their views were taken into account during consultation and treatment. They could also raise a concern if they had one. One person told us that if they had any concerns, “I would call the clinic. I feel they would be happy to help.”

We saw evidence that recruitment procedures for staff were being appropriately followed so that people who use the service were protected from unsuitable staff being employed at the clinic.

We saw that the clinic sent regular quality monitoring surveys to people using the service to see if they had any concerns or suggestions for improvement. The responses from people using the service were very positive and comments included, “I am very happy with the service provided.” All the completed surveys indicated that the respondent would recommend the clinic to others.