The Hill Medical Centre

This service is rated as Choose a rating overall. (Previous inspection 10 January 2019 when the service was found to be meeting the relevant standards).

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 an announced comprehensive inspection at The Hill Medical Centre on 18 July 2019 as part of our rating inspection programme for independent health services. CQC last inspected this service on 10 January 2019, at which time it was found to be compliant with the relevant standards, however, we identified one area where the provider could make improvements and should:

• Review protocols to ensure periodic water temperature monitoring is undertaken in accordance with the service’s recent Legionella risk assessment.

A copy of our previous inspection report can be found by going to https://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-953184915 and selecting the Reports tab.

The Hill Medical Centre was established in 2011 and registered with the Care Quality Commission in 2013. The practice operates a private GP service for patients, providing consultations and private prescriptions.

The principal doctor is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission 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.

As part of this inspection patients of the service were asked to give feedback to CQC about their experiences of using the service. We received responses about the service from 20 people. All comments we received were positive about the service with patients mentioning: staff were courteous professional and caring, the clinic was always clean when they visited, and all their questions were answered.

Our key findings were:

• Shortly after our last inspection in January 2019 the service provided us with evidence of an assessment and water sample test it had undertaken which indicated the Legionella bacterium was not present in its water system.
• Referrals and transfers to other services were undertaken in a timely way.
• The service kept written records of verbal interactions as well as written correspondence.
• We saw no evidence of discrimination when making care and treatment decisions.
• Feedback from patients was positive about the way staff treated people.
• Information about how to make a complaint or raise concerns was available.
• The service was transparent, collaborative and open with stakeholders about performance.

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

We carried out an announced, comprehensive inspection on 10 January 2019 to ask the service the following key questions; Are services safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led?

Our findings were:

Are services safe?

We found that this service was providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services effective?

We found that this service was providing effective care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services caring?

We found that this service was providing caring services in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services responsive?

We found that this service was providing responsive care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services well-led?

We found that this service was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

We carried out this inspection 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 practice was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

CQC previously inspected the service on 3 October 2017 and asked the provider to make improvements because it was not using clinical audits to drive improvements in patient outcomes. We judged the provider had breached Regulation 17 (1) (Good governance) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008. At our 10 January 2019 inspection, we checked this area and found the area of concern had been resolved.

The Hill Medical Centre was established in 2011 and registered with the Care Quality Commission in 2013. The practice operates a private GP service for patients providing consultations and private prescriptions.

The principal doctor is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission 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.

We received 20 completed Care Quality Commission comment cards all of which were positive about the staff at the practice and the services received. We did not speak with patients directly at the inspection.

Our key findings were:

• The provider had acted since our last inspection and introduced a programme of

regular audits to assess, monitor and improve the quality of the service.

• The practice reviewed the effectiveness of the care it provided and acted to ensure care and treatment were delivered according to evidence-based guidelines.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Services were provided to meet the needs of patients.
• Patient feedback for the services offered was positive.
• Practice management and governance arrangements supported the delivery of high-quality and person-centred care.

There were areas where the provider could make improvements and should:

• Review protocols to ensure that periodic water temperature monitoring is undertaken in accordance with the service’s recent Legionella risk assessment.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth  BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care