15 October 2019
During an inspection looking at part of the service
We carried out an inspection of this service due to the length of time since the last inspection. Following our review of the information available to us, including information provided by the practice, we focused our inspection on the following key questions safe, effective and well led.
We carried out this announced inspection at Trent Meadows Medical Practice 15 October 2019 as part of our inspection programme.
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:
- The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
- Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
- The practice had reviewed and re-organised the way in which services were delivered services to meet patients’ needs. Recruitment of appropriately skilled and experienced staff to meet patient demand were a practice priority.
- All requests for home visits were triaged by the GPs which resulted in patients being seen by the most appropriate clinician or managed through a telephone consultation if appropriate.
- Receptionists had been given guidance on identifying deteriorating or acutely unwell patients. They were aware of actions to take in respect of such patients.
- There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation. For example: the practice encouraged and supported the staff to develop their skills and knowledge, the development to non-clinical champions for cancer care and carers.
Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:
- Formalise and document the clinical supervision discussions and review of consultations for the nursing team.
- Continue to communicate and consult with patients on the short-term measures in place for the appointment availability at their practice branch site of Stretton.
- Implement the plans discussed at the clinical meeting in September 2019 to clarify and reach consensus on palliative care planning and out of hours communication.
- Continue with the measures put in place to reduce the risk of gaps in the patient safety alerts processes.
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