The Care Quality Commission
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  • GP practice

The Deepings Practice

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Godsey Lane, Market Deeping, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, PE6 8DD (01778) 579000

Provided and run by:
The Deepings Practice

All Inspections

22 March 2022

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced inspection at The Deepings practice on 22 March 2022. Overall, the practice is rated as Requires Improvement.

The ratings for each key question are:

Safe - Good

Effective - Good

Caring - Good

Responsive - Requires improvement

Well-led - Good

Following our previous inspection on 02 December 2014 the practice was rated Good overall and for all key questions.

The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Deepings practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we carried out this inspection

This inspection was a comprehensive inspection to gain assurances, following concerns that were raised about the provision of services by the practice.

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
  • 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 have rated this practice as Good overall

We found that:

  • The practice adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Some patients found accessing the practice by telephone difficult.
  • Vacant clinical posts impacted on the availability of appointments.
  • Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
  • Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
  • The majority of staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to carry out their roles. However, not all staff were up to date with essential training.

We found two areas of outstanding practice:

  • The practice contacted local schools during the heightened period of the pandemic to offer support and advice relating to COVID-19. A GP partner from the practice met with local school leadership members virtually to give a presentation on covid-19 symptoms and clinical decisions regarding the health of children and when to seek advice. The GP offered an email advice service where the local schools could email directly with any questions.
  • The practice had invested in an automated collection machine for medications. This was located in the car park of the practice and allowed patients to access their medication at a time that was convenient for them. Patients reported positive feedback stating it was more convenient for them to collect their prescriptions at a time to suit them for example before or after work. The machine also decreased footfall into the practice reducing infection control risks and staff were able to dispense medications quickly.

Whilst we found no other breaches of regulations, the provider should:

  • Continue to monitor staffing levels at the practice.
  • Continue to develop engagement with patients to notify them of actions taken to address access concerns.

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

02 December 2014

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

The Deepings Practice offers a range of primary medical services from it’s surgery at Godsey Lane, Market Deeping, Lincolnshire and a branch surgery at Glinton, Cambridgeshire.

We carried out an announced inspection on 2 December 2014 as part of our new comprehensive inspection programme of the main surgery at Market Deeping.

During the inspection we spoke with patients that used the practice and met with members of the patient participation (PPG). A PPG is a group of patients who have volunteered to represent patients' views and concerns and are seen as an effective way for patients and GP surgeries to work together to improve services and to promote health and improved quality of care. We also reviewed comments cards that had been provided by CQC on which patients could record their views.

The overall rating for this practice is good. We found the practice to be good in the safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led domains. We found the practice was good in the care they provided to the population groups of older people, people with long term conditions, families, children and young people, working age people, people experiencing poor mental health and people in vulnerable circumstances.

Our key findings were as follows:

  • The practice had robust arrangements in place to manage emergencies. Staff had received relevant training and the practice had a designated emergency room which had all the equipment required by staff in the event of an emergency. Emergency medicines were available in this room and all staff knew of their location.
  • The practice had achieved and implemented the gold standards framework for end of life care. It had a palliative care register and had regular meetings to discuss the care and support needs of patients and their families. GPs provided personalised cancer care by means of having their own patient list.
  • Patients we spoke with and comments we reviewed reflected that they received an excellent service and praised staff, describing them as friendly, having time to listen and being caring. They said staff treated them with dignity and respect.
  • The practice was responsive and had implemented services which addressed the needs of not only their own patients but the wider community. They had made changes as a result of comments and feedback from patients.
  • There was clear leadership with all staff being aware of their role and responsibilities. There was a strong team ethos and staff felt well supported and valued.

We saw areas of outstanding practice including:

  • The Deepings Practice had responded to the needs of the wider community and provided a community based ultrasound scanning service. This meant patients of any practice could be referred to the local facility which could be more convenient than travelling to hospital and often shorten the waiting time.
  • The three GP trainers have been involved in the design and implementation of a regional urgent care skills training programme for registrars. The practice now hosts simulation based clinical skills workshops.

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

The provider should :

  • Ensure that minutes of all meetings are more comprehensive and included actions and required follow up where relevant.
  • Ensure policies are reviewed and updated.
  • Ensure that the MHRA/drug alert policy includes further guidance for staff on what to do once they have been sent an alert to investigate.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice