We rated this service as
Good
overall.
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 of the service commencing on 17 May 2023 as part of our inspection programme. TAP GP Ltd, (the provider) was registered by the Care Quality Commission in November 2021 but the service did not start operating until June 2022. This was the first inspection of the service.
The provider offers a private GP service, by telephone and online video consultations bookable via a secure mobile application (app.). The service operates between 8:00am and 10:00pm seven days a week. People can book a 10-minute telephone or online video consultation with a GP, which may be extended if necessary. Prescribed medicines can be delivered by a participating pharmacy or prescriptions can be sent to a pharmacy nominated by patients so they may collect medicines personally.
The service is available to patients resident in England and Wales. It is not intended for use in emergencies or to provide care in relation to the ongoing management of patients’ long-term health conditions.
The provider has a registered manager, who is a person 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.
At this inspection we found:
- The service had good systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. People were protected from avoidable harm and abuse.
- People have good outcomes because they receive effective care and treatment, which was delivered according to evidence-based guidelines.
- People are supported, treated with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect and involved as partners in their care.
- People’s needs are met through the way the service is organised and delivered.
- The leadership, governance and culture promote the delivery of high-quality person-centred care.
Although we identified no breaches of regulations, the areas where the provider should make improvements are:
- Proceed with updating the service records system to include past prescriptions on the main summary page for easy reference.
- Proceed with implementing a planned programme of clinical auditing to drive improvement.
- Proceed with reviewing and revising governance policy documents to provide consistency in terminology.
Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA
Chief Inspector of Health Care