Dr Cecil Skelly - Care Quality Commission

Background to this inspection

Updated 30 August 2017

Dr Cecil Skelly is located in the New North Health Centre and shares the ground floor with a pharmacy on New North Rd, London N1 7AA. The building is owned by the pharmacy and leased to the practice who are responsible for maintenance. The premises have step free access with an accessible toilet.

They provide NHS primary medical services to approximately 1800 patients through a General Medical Services contract (a General Medical Services (GMS) contract is the contract between general practices and NHS England for delivering primary care services to local communities).The practice is commissioned by NHS Islington Clinical Commissioning Group.

The practice staff consist of the principle GP (male) who works nine sessions per week, a practice nurse (female) who works two sessions per week and a healthcare assistant (female) who works one session per week. There is a practice manager and an assistant practice manager who both work part time and two receptionists that also work part time.

The practice is open from:

Monday 9am - 1pm and 5pm - 6.30pm
Tuesday 9am - 1pm and 5pm - 6.30pm
Wednesday 9am - 1pm and 5pm - 6:30pm
Thursday 9am - 1pm
Friday 9am - 1pm and 5pm-6.30pm

Appointments started 30 minutes after the practice opened at 9.30am.

Extended hours appointments are offered on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 6:30pm to 7:30pm. The practice also provides telephone consultations and home visits The home visits are carried out between morning and evening surgery. Out of hours appointments are covered by the Islington iHub service. Appointments are available, Monday to Friday - 6.30pm to 8pm, Saturdays and Sundays - 8am to 8pm. Care UK cover the practice on Thursdays from 1pm to 6:30pm.Outside of these hours the practice is covered by the 111 service.

Ten percent of the practice population is over 65 and 31% of the population is aged between 25 to 34. Seventy three percent of the practice population have England as their country of birth. Information published by Public Health England rates the level of deprivation within the practice population group as three on a scale of one to ten. Level one represents the highest levels of deprivation and level ten the lowest.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 30 August 2017

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr Cecil Skelly on 8 December 2016. The overall rating for the practice was good. The full comprehensive report on the 8 December 2016 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Dr Cecil Skelly on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

This inspection was a desk-based inspection carried out on 2 August 2017 to confirm that the practice had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breaches in regulations that we identified in our previous inspection on 8 December 2016. This report covers our findings in relation to those requirements and also additional improvements made since our last inspection.

Overall the practice is now rated as good.

Our key findings were as follows:

There was an open and transparent approach to safety and a system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
The practice had clearly defined and embedded systems to minimise risks to patient safety and had developed a business continuity plan.
Staff were aware of current evidence based guidance. Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills and knowledge to deliver effective care and treatment.
Results from the national GP patient survey showed an improvement and patients felt more involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
Information about services and how to complain was available. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns.
Patients surveyed said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP.
There was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
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 provider was aware of the requirements of the duty of candour.

However, there were also areas of practice where the provider could make improvements.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

Although the results are improving the practice should continue to assess, monitor and improve the quality of care provided in view of the low patient survey results.

At our previous inspection on 8 December 2016, we rated the practice as requires improvement for providing caring services as the practice had done nothing to address the low patient survey results. At this inspection we found that the patient survey scores had improved and the practice had put in processes to drive this improvement. Consequently, the practice is now rated as good for providing caring services.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)

Chief Inspector of General Practice