This service is rated as Good overall.
The service was previously inspected in September 2011 and January 2013 and found to be meeting the standards in place at the time. At an inspection in April 2018, inspectors found the provider had breached Regulation 12 (1) Safe Care and treatment because arrangements for premises hard wiring safety and fire safety were either not in place or not sufficiently effective, medicines and vaccines were not well managed and a number of blood sample bottles were out of date. A requirement notice was served in respect of this breach of regulation. The service was re-inspected in October 2018 to confirm the provider had taken actions to address the breach of regulations and had met the legal requirements.
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 Doctor Today on 14 August 2019 as part of our ratings inspection programme for independent health services.
Doctor Today is an independent health service based in the Finchley Road and Frognal area of North West London that provides patient consultations, treatment and referrals for adults and children. Dr Marissa Vassilliou is the registered manager and a partner doctor in the business. 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.
The provider supplies private general practitioner services predominantly to private fee-paying patients. The provider also provides services to staff employed by corporate clients.
We received 6 CQC comments cards. All comment cards were positive with patients referring to the high standard of care provided by knowledgeable and supportive staff.
Our key findings were:
- The provider had systems in place to keep people safe and to review, act and learn from significant events. We reviewed examples where the provider had made contact with the patient’s NHS GP to pass on information that was clinically necessary with the patient’s consent. We were told that, when necessary to ensure patient safety, the service would contact the patients NHS GP without consent.
- There were processes in place to effectively handle emergencies and risks were managed appropriately. Recruitment checks had been completed for the staff whose files we reviewed.
- Systems were in place for the safe management of medicines and we saw the provider had processes in place to review prescribing.
- Staff at the service assessed patients in accordance with best practice and current guidelines and had systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of care provided to patients.
- There was evidence of effective joint working and sufficient staffing to meet the needs of their patient population.
- Feedback indicated patients were treated with dignity and care and the service had systems to support patients to be involved with decisions about their care and treatment.
- The service met the needs of their targeted patient demographic and there were systems in place for acting on feedback and complaints.
- The service had adequate leadership and governance in place.
- There was clear strategy and vision which was tailored to patient need and staff and patients were able to engage and feedback to the service provider.
Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP
Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care