Aupres Medical LLP

The provider registered for the regulated activities of diagnostic and screening procedure, family planning, maternity and midwifery services and treatment of disease disorder or injury at Aupres Medical LLP in June 2019. This is the first inspection of the service following CQC registration.

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Aupres Medical LLP on 9 March 2022, where we reviewed the key lines of enquiry for a safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led service.

At this inspection, we have rated the service as Good overall, and 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? – Requires improvement

The service, Aupres Medical LLP, provides cardiac treatment for patients over the age of 18 years. The service specialises in external counterpulsation therapy, (a non-invasive treatment for the heart). The provider also provides the cardiology care to patients referred by a fellow independent psychiatry service regarding the use of thyroxine medication to treat bi-polar disorder. However, this aspect of the service was outside the scope of our inspection as we do not inspect and rate research projects.

The clinical lead for the service is the CQC registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the CQC to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Our key findings were:

• Individual care records were written and managed in a way that kept patients safe. The care records we saw showed that information needed to deliver safe care and treatment was available to relevant staff in an accessible way.
• The service had systems for sharing information with staff and other agencies to enable them to deliver safe care and treatment.
• The provider demonstrated that there was a focus on continuous improvement to the service.
• The provider submitted feedback from 12 patients, taken from 22 February to 3 March 2022. All stated the service was very good, comments made where they had received prompt treatment, and felt cared for, and felt comfortable to ask questions about their treatment.
• The service mostly had clear systems to keep people safe and safeguarded from abuse.
• At the time of the inspection, the provider was implementing new systems and processes, which meant that some information was not available for example, evidence all staff had completed their training, evidence of the emergency medicine and equipment risk assessment, lack of a formal approach to recording meetings. Although we received evidence that the provider had taken action to address these areas, either during or following the inspection, we could not be assured the new processes were fully embedded.

The areas where the provider must make improvements as they are in breach of regulations are:

• Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care.

(Please see the specific details on action required at the end of this report).

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Follow up the premise maintenance concerns with the provider, to be assured of patient safety.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP
Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care