The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

East Cliff Medical Practice

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

The Montefiore Medical Centre, Dumpton Park Drive, Ramsgate, Kent, CT11 8AD (01843) 855800

Provided and run by:
Invicta Health Community Interest Company

Important: The provider of this service changed. See old profile

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

The practice was last inspected 11 November 2021 and rated good. We carried out an announced assessment of one quality statement, Equity of Access, under the key question Responsive at East Cliff Medical Practice on the 7 March 2024. Responsive assessments are remote focused reviews to help us understand what practices are doing to try to meet patient demand and the current experience of people who use these services and of providers. The responsive key question is still rated as good. The service remains rated as good overall. We recognise the commitment and often innovative work that GP practices have been engaged in to continue to provide safe, quality care to the people they serve. We know colleagues are doing this while demand for general practice remains exceptionally high, with more appointments being provided than ever. In this challenging context, access to general practice remains a concern for people. These assessments of the quality statement Equity in Access in the responsive key question includes looking at what practices are doing innovatively to improve patient access to primary care and sharing this information to drive improvement. People can access services when they need to, without physical or digital barriers, including out of normal hours and in an emergency. People are given support to overcome barriers to ensure equal access. The practice understood the challenges to patient access and responded to patient needs.

20 August 2021

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced inspection at East Cliff Medical Practice on 20 August 2021 Overall, the practice is rated as good.

Set out the ratings for each key question

Safe - good

Effective – good

Responsive – good

Caring – good

Well-led – good

Following our previous inspection on 25 August 2015 the practice was rated good overall and for all key questions.

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

Why we carried out this inspection

This inspection was a comprehensive inspection as the practice has changed legal entities and is now being managed by a new provider. Consequently, the provider was assessed in relation to all five domains, safe, effective, responsive, caring and well led.

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

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 and good for all population groups.

We found that:

  • The practice provided individualised care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
  • Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
  • Staff were trained and 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 via a number of routes in a timely way.
  • The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care both within the practice and wider health and social care economy.

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

  • utilise corporate governance systems to provide an additional tier of scrutiny and assurance in the management of medicines.

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