Background to this inspection
Updated
30 September 2021
Penntorr Health is located at Trevol Business Park, Trevol Road, Torpoint, Cornwall, PL11 2TB. The branch practice, Millbrook Surgery, is located at Greenland, Millbrook, Torpoint, Cornwall PL10 1DE. We did not visit the branch practice at this inspection.
The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the Regulated Activities; diagnostic and screening
procedures, maternity and midwifery services, family planning, surgical procedures and treatment of disease, disorder or injury. These are delivered from both sites. Penntorr Health is situated within the Kernow Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and provides services to approximately 11,900 patients under the terms of a general medical services (GMS) contract. This is a contract
between general practices and NHS England for delivering services to the local community.
The practice is active in research and clinical trials. These are research studies in which patients help test treatments or approaches to prevent or diagnose health conditions to evaluate whether they are safe and effective.
There are five GP partners, three male and two females, as well as three salaried GPs and one business manager partner. The practice employs a paramedic, an advanced nurse practitioner, four practice nurses and three health care assistants. The practice also employs two research nurses, a manager, an operations manager and a team of administrators and receptionists.
A clinical pharmacist, physiotherapist and a social prescriber are employed by Kernow Health East Limited (East Cornwall Primary Care Network) through the Additional Role Reimbursement Scheme and a share of their time is allocated to the practice.
Information published by Public Health England shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the sixth decile (six of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice population is relative to others.
Due to the enhanced infection prevention and control measures put in place since the pandemic and in line with the national guidance, most GP appointments were telephone consultations. If the GP needs to see a patient face-to-face then the patient is offered a choice of either the main GP location or the branch surgery.
When the practice was closed patients are directed to NHS 111 out of hours services.
Updated
30 September 2021
We carried out an announced inspection at Penntorr Health on 25 August 2021. Overall, the practice is rated as Good.
Set out the ratings for each key question
Safe - Good
Effective - Good
Caring - Good
Responsive - Good
Well-led - Good
Following our previous inspection on 6 November 2019 the practice was rated Requires Improvement overall with Safe, Effective and Well-Led rated requires improvement and responsive and caring rated as good.
The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Penntorr Health on our website at www.cqc.org.uk
Why we carried out this inspection
This inspection was a focused inspection to follow up on breaches identified in the inspection in November 2019.
How we carried out the inspection
Throughout the pandemic CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, taking into account the circumstances arising as a result of the pandemic, and in order to reduce risk, we have conducted our inspections differently.
This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site. This was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements.
This included
- Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing
- Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system and discussing findings with the provider
- Requesting evidence from the provider
- A short site visit
- Staff Questionnaires.
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 have rated this practice as Good overall and good for all population groups
We found that:
- There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system for reporting and recording significant events and learning from these was discussed and shared at practice meetings.
- 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.
- 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 practice adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
- The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centred care.
Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:
- Review and monitor cervical screening uptake rates and continue to encourage eligible women to attend for screening.
- Review processes to improve uptake for childhood immunisations.
Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.
Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP
Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care