Charnock Health Primary Care Centre

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Charnock Health Primary Care Centre on 8 and 9 November 2022. Overall, the practice is rated as Good. The rating for each key question is:

Safe - Good

Effective – Good

Caring – Good

Responsive - Good

Well-led – Good

Why we carried out this inspection

The location was inspected in line with our current priorities and was a comprehensive inspection.

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 and telephone 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.
• Requesting staff to complete a short questionnaire.
• A short visit to the practice.

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 provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm, though the system for monitoring historic medicine alerts required review.
• Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs. Clinical searches and medical records we reviewed showed effective management and monitoring of patients with long-term conditions although management of some patients on some high-risk medications required review. Prevention data showed effective uptake of national screening programmes.
• Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
• The practice had adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients could access urgent care and treatment in a timely way although some patients commented they struggled to use the appointment system.
• The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centred care and staff told us they felt extremely supported by the provider and management.

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

• Implement a rolling system to ensure action is taken regarding historic medicine alerts.
• Develop a system to input result data from the hospital database for patients on high-risk medicines and those with long term conditions to ensure data is available to staff in the practice’s clinical system.
• Review the system for monitoring patients on a high-risk medicine which assists with fluid leaving the body via the urine to ensure monitoring is carried out at the appropriate time as per national guidance.
• Utilise the alerts on the clinical system to ensure any monitoring is carried out at the appropriate time.
• Listen to patient feedback regarding the appointment system.

Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

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