Background to this inspection
Updated
3 November 2021
East Lynne Medical Centre is located close to the town centre of Clacton on sea at:
3-5 Wellesley Road
Clacton On Sea
Essex
CO15 3PP
The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the Regulated Activities; diagnostic and screening procedures, maternity and midwifery services and treatment of disease, disorder or injury and surgical procedures.
The practice is situated within the North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) area and delivers General Medical Services (GMS) to a patient population of approximately 8500. This is part of a contract held with NHS England.
The practice is part of a wider network of five local GP practices.
Information published by Public Health England shows the deprivation within the practice population is in the lowest decile (1). The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice population is relative to others.
According to the latest available data, the ethnic make-up of the practice area is 96.7% White, 1.3% Asian, 1.3% Mixed, 0.3% Black, and 0.4% Other.
The age distribution of the practice population closely mirrors local averages which has a higher concentration of older and retired people.
There is a team of two GPs partners, a salaried GP and regular locum GPs who provide cover at the practice. The practice has a nursing team of eight who provide a range of services including home visiting and specialist nurse led clinic’s for long-term conditions. The GPs are supported at the practice by a practice manager and team of administrative staff.
Due to the enhanced infection prevention and control measures put in place since the pandemic and in line with the national guidance. Many GP appointments are telephone consultations however, if the GP needed to see a patient face-to-face this is offered.
Extended access is provided by the practice, and patients are directed to NHS 111 for healthcare outside practice opening hours .
Updated
3 November 2021
We carried out an announced inspection at East Lynne Medical Centre on 28 September 2021. Overall, the practice is rated as good.
Safe - Good
Effective - Good
Caring - Good
Responsive - Good
Well-led - Outstanding
Following our previous inspection on 15 October 2019, the practice was rated requires improvement overall. Specifically, they were rated requires improvement for effective, caring, and responsive services and rated good for safe and well-led services. We issued a requirement notice at this inspection.
The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for East Lynne Medical Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk
Why we carried out this inspection
This was a comprehensive inspection to follow up on the breaches of the regulations identified at the last practice, other areas where the practice was told should be improved, and to re-rate the practice.
How we carried out the inspection
Throughout the pandemic the 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 the 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.
At this inspection we have rated this practice as good overall and good for all the population groups. Specifically, they were rated good for safe, effective, caring, and responsive services and rated outstanding for well-led services.
We found that:
- The breaches found in the previous inspection had been complied with and actioned. The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
- We saw risk assessments were undertaken and actions taken when issues were found.
- Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs. The patient records we reviewed showed care pathways and protocols were well managed and followed.
- Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care. This was explained to us when we spoke with patients when we visited the practice.
- The practice adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
- The practice leaders had an inspiring shared purpose to strive, deliver and motivate staff to succeed.
- There were high levels of staff satisfaction. Staff were proud to work at the practice and spoke highly of the culture.
- The leadership at the practice were committed to continuous improvement and staff members took responsibility for delivering change.
- The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care. This was seen in the numerous improvements undertaken since the two GP partners took over the practice 18 months ago.
We have rated well-led as outstanding because;
- The partners had pro-actively sought care and treatment opportunities to improve the quality of services delivered to their patients. This work was completed entirely during the COVID 19 pandemic access restrictions, to benefit their patients.
- The provider recognised that the restrictions placed on practices and the public as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic was likely to affect patient care. They introduced several initiatives in order to maintain access to good quality, safe and effective care and treatment whilst reducing the risk of COVID 19 transmission. These were:
- Equipment purchased to improve diagnostic testing for patients during home visits for example a portable ECG machine and a blood centrifuge machine to stabilise blood samples and eliminate the need for those people vulnerable to Covid 19 pandemic health concerns, and older people needing to make a practice visit to receive these tests.
Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:
- Continue to improve patient uptake for cervical screening and child immunisation programmes.
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