The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

Eccleston Medical Centre

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

4 Millfields Court, Eccleston, St. Helens, WA10 5RG (01744) 454454

Provided and run by:
Dr Cox Dr Fletcher Dr Hyde Dr Clarke

Important: This service was previously registered at a different address - see old profile

All Inspections

05 September 2023

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out an announced focused inspection at Eccleston Medical Centre on 5 September 2023. Overall, the practice is rated as good.

Safe – good

Effective - not inspected, rating of good carried forward from previous inspection.

Caring - not inspected, rating of good carried forward from previous inspection.

Responsive - not inspected, rating of good carried forward from previous inspection.

Well-led - not inspected, rating of good carried forward from previous inspection.

The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Eccleston Medical Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we carried out this inspection

We carried out this inspection to follow up on:

• A breach of regulation from a previous inspection on 26, 27, 28 and 29 July 2022.

• The areas identified where the provider should make improvements from the inspection on 26, 27, 28 and 29 July 2022.

How we carried out the inspection

This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site.

This included:

  • Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing.
  • Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system (this was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements).
  • Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider.
  • Requesting evidence from the provider.

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 found that:

  • Action had been taken to address the breach of regulation. Improvements had been made to the systems for medication reviews and for monitoring of patients health before repeat medications were prescribed.

The provider had also made improvements to the service as recommended in the ‘shoulds’ from the last inspection report.

  • Staf had completed equality and diversity training.

  • Improvements had been made to the systems in place to encourage patients to attend for childhood immunisations and cervical screening. However, one of the childhood immunisations and cervical screening rates remained below the recommended target rates.

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

  • Continue to take steps to ensure reviews of patients’ medication and health checks take place at the required frequencies.

  • Continue to monitor childhood immunisation and cervical screening uptake.

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 Health Care

26 July 2022, 27 July 2022, 28 July 2022, 29 July 2022

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced inspection at Eccleston Medical Centre on 26, 27, 28 and 29 July 2022. Overall, the practice is rated as good.

The ratings for each key question are:

Safe - requires improvement

Effective - good

Caring - good

Responsive - good

Well-led - good

Why we carried out this inspection

This inspection was a comprehensive inspection covering all key questions. The practice was registered with the Commission on 29 November 2019.

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 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
  • A short site visit
  • Speaking to patients during the 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.

We have rated this practice as good overall.

We rated the practice requires improvement for providing safe services. This is because:

  • Not every patient prescribed a medicine that required monitoring had a review undertaken within the last 12 months.
  • Some patients who were prescribed repeat medicines had not had a review undertaken within the last twelve months.
  • Medicines were being prescribed to some patients with long term conditions in the absence of a medication review.

We rated the practice good for providing effective, caring, responsive and well-led services. We found that:

  • Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
  • Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
  • 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.
  • There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management.

We saw the following outstanding practice:

  • A proactive approach was taken to support the practice team to make reasonable adjustments to their roles when required. This included making adaptations to staff work stations and patterns to meet their needs.

We found the following breach of regulations. The provider must:

  • Ensure the care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients.

The provider should:

  • Continue to work to improve the uptake of screening and immunisation.
  • Ensure all staff undertake equality & diversity training.

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