King George Road Surgery

This practice is rated as Good overall.

The key questions at this inspection are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? – Good

The full comprehensive report can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for King George Road Surgery on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Why we carried out this inspection:

We carried out an announced inspection at King George Road Surgery on 13 September 2022 under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, as part of our regulatory functions. The inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

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 in line with all data protection and information governance requirements.

This included:

• 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

Our judgement of the quality of care at this service is based 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.

Our findings:

We have rated this practice as Good overall.

• The practice’s systems, practices and processes helped keep people safe and safeguarded from abuse.
• There were systems and processes to help maintain appropriate standards of cleanliness and hygiene.
• Risks to patients, staff and visitors were assessed, monitored or managed effectively.
• The arrangements for managing medicines helped keep patients safe.
• The practice learned and made improvements when things went wrong.
• Patients’ needs were assessed, and care as well as treatment were delivered in line with current legislation, standards and evidence based guidance.
• Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to carry out their roles.
• Staff treated patients with kindness, respect and compassion.
• The practice organised and delivered services to help meet patients’ needs.
• People were able to access care and treatment in a timely manner.
• There was compassionate and inclusive leadership at all levels.
• There were processes and systems to support good governance and management.
• The provider was aware some improvements were required in relation to the management of some risks as well as some current and future performance and was in the process of taking action.
• The practice involved the public, staff and external partners to help ensure they delivered high-quality and sustainable care.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Consider reviewing warfarin management to ensure all relevant patients’ records indicate when their next blood test is due.
• Continue with ongoing action to improve the management of some risks as well as performance relating to reviews of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and the uptake of some childhood immunisations.
• Consider revising management of some safety alerts to ensure all relevant action is taken.
• Consider revising the coding of patients with a Do Not Attempt Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) decision in their records to ensure the computer system alerts staff to these patients.
• Continue with plans to purchase a hearing loop.
• Continue to make relevant changes to their registration with the Care Quality Commission.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

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

Please refer to the detailed report and the evidence tables for further information.