• Doctor
  • GP practice

Archived: The University of Lincoln Health Centre

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

3 Campus Way, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, LN6 7GA (01522) 870010

Provided and run by:
The University of Nottingham Health Service

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

All Inspections

12 Dec 2019

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out a comprehensive inspection on 14 February 2018, but due to exceptional circumstances, the care Quality Commission was unable to complete the ratings and publication of the report, so we agreed with the practice to inspect again.

We then carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The University of Lincoln Health Centre on 12 December 2019

Our judgement of the quality of care at this service is based 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. All population groups were also rated as good.

This inspection took place following an announced comprehensive inspection on 14 February 2018. The overall rating for the practice was requires improvement. A requirement notice was served in relation to breaches identified under Regulation 17: Good governance. We completed an announced inspection on 12 December 2019 to check on the areas identified in the requirement notice and to see if sufficient improvements had been made regarding these. The practice had taken the actions needed to comply with the legal requirements.

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

We rated the practice as good for safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led services because:

  • 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 organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
  • The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of good quality, person-centre.
  • There were comprehensive systems and processes for learning, continuous improvement and innovation.

We rated the population group of working age people (including students) as outstanding in responsive services, due to the work the practice was doing in relation to students at the university. All other population groups were rated as good.

While we did not find any breaches of regulation the practice should:

  • Review the formal governance of clinical oversight and leadership

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care

Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.

14 February 2018

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

This practice is rated as Requires Improvement overall. (This is the first inspection).

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Requires improvement

Are services effective? – Requires improvement

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? – Requires improvement

As part of our inspection process, we also look at the quality of care for specific population groups. The population groups are rated as:

Older People – Not rated

People with long-term conditions – Requires improvement

Families, children and young people – Requires improvement

Working age people (including those recently retired and students – Requires improvement

People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable – Not rated

People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia) – Requires improvement

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The University of Lincoln Health Centre on 14 February 2018. This inspection was carried out as part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

  • Clinical leadership and governance systems needed to be strengthened. Some staff did not feel able to raise concerns and there was a disconnect between the leadership team and staff.
  • There was a system for recording and acting on significant events and incidents but this needed to be reviewed. Some significant events were not discussed at meetings and the process for reporting, discussing, recording and learning from significant events, including reviewing themes and trends was not always effective.
  • The practice did not have an effective system in place to gain the assurances required that nurse-led services were of sufficient quality.
  • Patients said they were treated with dignity, respect and compassion and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
  • We saw evidence pathology results were not reviewed and actioned every day.
  • Information about how to complain was not clearly displayed in the reception area or available on the practice website. Patients told us they did not know how to complain. On the day of the inspection, the practice amended the leaflet title to include the wording ‘How to Complain’. Complaints were not discussed at practice meetings in sufficient detail to learn from them or to consider trend analysis.
  • Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
  • We saw evidence the practice actively sought patient feedback and the practice had made improvements to patient access.

The areas where the provider must make improvements as they are in breach of regulations are:

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

More detail can be found in the Requirement Notices section at the end of this report.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

  • Review the newly implemented system for monitoring prescriptions through the practice to ensure it is embedded.
  • Review the emergency drugs ordering system so the practice has sufficient stock of emergency drugs.
  • Review risk assessments to ensure the practice retains oversight and that all risk assessments are up to date.
  • Review the training system so practice staff are up to date with mandatory training.


Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice