Litfield House Medical Centre

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 28 November 2017

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.

Background

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 Beard Medical Practice LLP was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Beard Medical Practice has two GPs who are equal clinical partners with one partner who is also 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. The practice provides s services from a rented room at Litfield House Medical Centre. The service is available to the whole population including children and has flexibility within their appointment system to offer an 'on the day' service.

Beard Medical Practice provides a range of general practice services including sexual health screening, pathology testing, travel advice and vaccinations and occupational medicine. Patients are able to book a longer appointment at a time that suits them. The service is aimed at people who cannot get an appointment at their registered GP at a suitable time; people who are visiting Bristol who may need an appointment when away from their NHS GP, or overseas students in the Bristol area. The service is also registered as a mobile doctors service so they can provide a service for home visits for any patients who are unable to attend the practice. Patients are able to book private appointments by telephone or via the practice website, or on the day drop in. All patients are required to complete a comprehensive health questionnaire/declaration prior to their appointment. The practice is open five days a week.

Beard Medical Practice do not directly employ any of the staff at Litfield House Medical Centre, the centre provides reception staff as part of the room rental fee. The centre also employs a business manager who ensures that all staff at the building are adequately trained and when necessary have a disclosure and barring service check (DBS).

This service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of some, but not all, of the services it provides. There are some exemptions from regulation by CQC which relate to particular types of service and these are set out in Schedule 2 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. At Beard Medical Practice services are provided to patients under arrangements made by their employer; a government department or an insurance company with whom the servicer user holds a policy (other than a standard health insurance policy. These types of arrangements are exempt by law from CQC regulation. Therefore, at Beard Medical Practice, we were only able to inspect the services which are not arranged for patients by their employers; a government department or an insurance company with whom the patient holds a policy (other than a standard health insurance policy).

As part of our inspection we asked for Care Quality Commission comment cards to be completed by patients prior to our inspection visit. All of the 29 comment cards we received were positive and complimentary about the caring nature of the service provided by the practice. We were also provided with copies of direct email feedback received by the practice which aligned with the patient views expressed in the comment cards. All of the feedback from patients indicated they were satisfied with the care provided by the practice.

Our key findings were:

• There was a transparent approach to safety with demonstrably effective systems in place for reporting and recording incidents.
• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
• All consultation rooms were well organised and equipped, with good light and ventilation.
• There were systems in place to check all equipment had been serviced regularly.
• Clinicians regularly assessed patients according to appropriate guidance and standards such as those issued by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.
• The partners maintained the necessary skills and competence to support the needs of patients.
• The partners were up to date with current guidelines and were led by a proactive management team.
• Risks to patients were well managed for example, there were effective systems in place to reduce the risk and spread of infection.
• The provider was aware of, and complied with, the requirements of the Duty of Candour.