The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • Independent doctor

Archived: Edgbaston Private Medical Practice

44 George Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, West Midlands, B15 1PL (0121) 454 9535

Provided and run by:
Lister Medical Associates Limited

Important: The provider of this service changed. See new profile

All Inspections

18 March 2016

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 18 March 2016 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.

Background

Edgbaston Private Medical Practice provides a private medical service to adults and children. Services include a private general medical service, immunisations such as child immunisations and travel vaccinations, health screening and lifestyle management. The practice team consists of a single handed doctor, a practice manager and a team of five support staff with a range of lead roles including regulatory compliance, business development, secretarial and reception roles.

This service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of some, but not all, of the services it provides. There are some exemptions from regulation by CQC which relate to particular types of service and these are set out in Schedule 2 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. The practice is part of a limited company called Listers Medical Associates Ltd and non-invasive cosmetic procedures are offered as part of the Edgbaston aesthetics service which is also part of Listers Medical Associated Ltd. The non-invasive cosmetic procedures provided to patients under arrangements made by the Edgbaston aesthetics service are exempt by law from CQC regulation. Therefore, at Edgbaston Private Medical Practice, we were only able to inspect the services which are not arranged for patients under the the Edgbaston aesthetics service.

The single handed doctor 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 a legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations about how the service is run.

The practice is open for appointments on weekdays and Saturdays. Appointments can be booked between 9am and 6pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. On Thursdays the practice offers appointments between 9am and 7pm, appointments can also be booked for Saturday clinics between 9am and 1pm. Patients can be referred to the practice by their NHS GP, as well as making appointments with the practice directly.

The practice is not required to offer an out of hours service. Patients who need medical assistance out of corporate operating hours are requested to seek assistance from alternative services such as the NHS 111 telephone service or accident and emergency. This is detailed on the practice website.

As part of our inspection we reviewed comment cards where patients and members of the public shared their views and experiences of the service. There were 29 completed CQC comment cards, patients commented that they were were satisfied with the care provided by the practice. Staff were described as caring, friendly and helpful.

Our key findings were:

  • The service was providing safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.
  • There were systems in place for the overall management of significant events and incidents. Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
  • Records were well governed and overall governance arrangements were robust.
  • The practice encouraged and valued feedback from patients, the public and staff. It proactively sought patients’ feedback and engaged patients in the delivery of the service.
  • Comment cards and satisfaction surveys highlighted that patients were pleased with the care provided by the doctor and staff were described as friendly, helpful and caring.
  • Staff felt supported and were confident in raising concerns and suggesting improvements. Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
  • Staff understood the relevant consent and decision-making requirements of legislation and guidance, including the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
  • Services were planned and delivered to take into account the needs of different patient groups and to help ensure flexibility, choice and continuity of care.

25 July 2014

During an inspection looking at part of the service

At our last inspection in July 2013, we found that recruitment procedures were not robust and did not give assurance that patients were cared for, or supported by, suitably qualified, skilled and experienced staff. The provider did not have an effective system to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people received. We set compliance actions and told the provider to improve.

The purpose of this inspection was to see if improvements had been made since our last inspection in July 2013. We gave the provider short notice of our inspection so that any disruption to patient's care and treatment were minimised. During the inspection we spoke with four members of staff, this included the practice manager and the lead GP who was also the registered provider. We also spoke with four patients. We found that the provider had made the necessary improvements.

All of the patients who we spoke with were happy with the standard of care and treatment that they received at the practice. One patient told us, "The practice is one of the best private practices that I have been to".

Patients were protected from the risk of abuse, because the provider had taken reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening.

Recruitment procedures were in place to ensure only suitable staff were employed at the practice.

The provider had improved the system in place for monitoring the quality of service provision. One patient told us, 'I have not had to make any complaints as I have been very happy with the service but if I did I am confident that they would take it seriously".

4 July 2013

During a routine inspection

People generally attended the practice with pre-planned appointments booked by telephone or via the practice website. On the day of our visit the practice was not busy and so we were not able to speak with people who used the clinic. Following our visit, we spoke on the telephone with four people who had used the clinic.

People told us they were very satisfied with the service they received. One person told us, 'I left my previous doctor as I wanted someone who cares for my wellbeing and I get that here.'

People confirmed that their privacy was always respected during a consultation. One person told us, 'It's always private and respectful.'

There were safeguarding procedures in place and staff were aware of the procedures to report any concerns.

We found that development was required in relation to staff recruitment procedures and quality assurance systems.