The Private GP Service

This service is rated as Good overall. This service has not previously been inspected.
The key questions are rated as:
Are services safe? – Good
Are services effective? – Good
Are services caring? – Good
Are services responsive? – Good
Are services well-led? – Good

We carried out this comprehensive inspection at The Private GP under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the service was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

The Private GP provides a home visiting service for patients of any age. Dr B Jobling is the CQC registered sole provider. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year. Patients may contact via a phone to text messaging service and the GP responds via call back to the patient to discuss the issue. Only non-urgent appointments for minor illness are offered. The service is mainly delivered to patients in their own home, however they can attend a surgery location, 96 Church Road, Gatley or directly at Dr Jobling’s home address in Hale, Altrincham, where full access to a consulting room is available. This inspection relates only to consultations undertaken at patient’s home addresses.

Our key findings were:

• The service had systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen.
• The service routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. However, this was not always fully documented.
• The service ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence-based guidelines.
• Appropriate use of medical records was maintained.
• The service involved and treated people with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Patients could access care and treatment from the service within an appropriate timescale for their needs. Patients told us the responsiveness of the service gave them peace of mind.
• There was a focus on continuous learning and improvement, some systems were in the process of being formally developed.
• Information about services and how to complain was available. We found the systems and processes to manage and investigate complaints were in place.
• The service proactively sought feedback from patients.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Formalise internal communication between GPs.
• Review process for monitoring and recording safety alerts.
• Review and consolidate the chaperone policy to include arrangements should trained chaperones be required.
• Continue to develop and increase clinical audit to monitor and improve safety and performance.
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  Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care