The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

Balderton Primary Care Centre

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Lowfield Lane, Balderton, Newark, Nottinghamshire, NG24 3HJ (01636) 705826

Provided and run by:
The Practice Surgeries Limited

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

All Inspections

28 February 2022

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced inspection at Balderton Primary Care Centre on Monday 28 February 2022. Overall, the practice is rated as good.

Set out the ratings for each key question

Safe - Good

Effective - Good

Caring - Good

Responsive - Good

Well-led - Good

Following our previous focused inspection on 25, 26 and 29 March 2021 the practice was rated as inspected but not rated.

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

Why we carried out this inspection

This inspection was a comprehensive inspection because the practice had been inspected but not rated since its registration with the CQC on 16 December 2020 and to follow up from breaches of regulations identified in an unannounced focused inspection in March 2021.

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

We found that:

  • The practice provided 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 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.
  • The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.
  • The practice had worked hard to address the backlogs found at the previous inspection in March 2021.
  • The practice had recruited more staff and were in the process of actively recruiting at the time of inspection.
  • Records showed that the practice had taken action to contact patients who had not received monitoring of their condition in 18 months.

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

  • Continue to recruit relevant staff to support access to care and treatment in a timely way.
  • Establish a patient participation group to enhance engagement with patients.
  • Continue to take action to ensure effective monitoring of patients diagnosed with long term conditions.

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

25, 26 and 29 March 2021

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out an unannounced focused inspection of Balderton Primary Care Centre from 25 to 29 March 2021 after receiving concerns about the practice.

This inspection focused on aspects related to the impact of staffing levels on workloads covered under the following key questions:

Safe

Well-led

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.

This report was created as part of a pilot which looked at new and innovative ways of fulfilling CQC’s regulatory obligations and responding to risk in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. This was conducted with the consent of the provider. Unless the report says otherwise, we obtained the information in it without visiting the Provider.

We have not rated this practice.

The practice had not been rated since the new provider was registered in December 2020.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection of Balderton Primary Care Centre with the previous provider by selecting the 'all reports' link for Balderton Primary Care Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

We found that:

  • Most staff did not feel valued or supported by the provider.
  • Staff were concerned about the reception and administration staffing levels at the practice especially staffing levels for the reception area.
  • Reception and administration staffing levels were low and had been affected by staff sickness at the time of the inspection.
  • The provider had recruited two administrative staff and planned to recruit additional clinical staff.
  • There were no significant backlogs in the processing of correspondence, referrals, recalls and the registering of new patients at the time of inspection.
  • There was a significant backlog in the summarising of records. The provider sent us an action plan on how they would address the backlog which included the recruitment of a medical summariser.

The area where the provider must make improvements is:

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

The area where the provider should make improvements is:

  • Continue to monitor staffing levels at the practice and ensure sufficient support is made available to reception and administrative staff to manage workloads at the practice.

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