Archived: Sobell Medical Centre

Updated 8 December 2022

Sobell Medical Centre located in Holloway, Islington and is part of the North Central London Integrated Care System. The practice provides care to approximately 4,100 patients and the practice area, according to information published by Public Health England, has a deprivation score of 3 out of 10 (1 being the most deprived). Sobell Medical Centre cares for a diverse population with 37.2% of its patients from a Black, Asian or Mixed background.

The practice team consists of one male GP partner, who is the lead GP, and another male salaried doctor. They have been supported by two long-term locums recently and have not had a practice nurse since February 2022. The Islington Federation provide nursing support to the practice with 4 nursing sessions a week as well a clinical pharmacist who provides four sessions a week. During the inspection, non-clinical staff members include a part-time practice manager, two receptionists and two members of the administrative team. After the inspection, the practice had informed us they had recruited a practice manager along with an operational manager.

The practice is open between 8:00am-7:15am on Mondays and Fridays and 8:00am to 6:30am between Tuesdays and Thursdays. The practice offers a range of appointment types including book on the day, telephone consultations and advance appointments.

The practice holds a General Medical Services contract with the NHS England and is registered with the CQC to deliver the regulated activities of diagnostic and screening procedures, maternity and midwifery services, treatment of disease, disorder or injury and surgical procedures.

Extended access is provided locally by the Islington Hub where late evening and weekend appointments are available. Out of hour services are provided by dialing 111 for assistance.

Updated 8 December 2022

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection) at Sobell Medical Centre on 25-27 October 2022. Overall, the practice is rated as requires improvement.

Safe - Requires Improvement

Effective - Requires Improvement

Caring - Good

Responsive - Good

Well-led - Requires Improvement

Why we carried out this inspection

This was a comprehensive inspection as part of our inspection programme. This was our first inspection of this location since it changed provider in May 2021.

How we carried out the inspection

This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site.

This included:

• Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing.
• Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system (this was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements).
• Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider.
• Requesting evidence from the provider.
• A short site visit.

Our findings

We based our judgement of the quality of care at this service on a combination of:

• what we found when we inspected
• information from our ongoing monitoring of data about services and
• information from the provider, patients, the public and other organisations.

We found that:

• Appropriate environmental risk assessments were being carried out.
• The practice followed procedures for significant events and complaints.
• Patients on high-risk medications and patients with long-term illnesses were not always monitored appropriately.
• The practice did not have an effective system to implement patient safety alerts.
• The practice were not regularly updating their safeguarding register.
• There was evidence of clinical audits and continuous learning.
• There was no effective oversight of staff training and appraisals and the uptake of childhood immunisations and cervical cancer screening.
• Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
• Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
• Governance arrangements were not effective which impacted on the delivery of high-quality care (for example regarding childhood immunisations, cervical cancer screening and maintaining an active Patient Participation Group).

We found two breaches of regulation. The provider must:

• Ensure care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients.
• Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Establish an active Patient Participation Group.

Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

Chief Inspector of Hospitals and Interim Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services