Medicare Francais

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 4 July 2018 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.

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 service was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Medicare Francais is a private clinic providing GP, dental and paramedical diagnostics, treatment, management and treats both adults and children at 198-200 Earls Court road, London. The building is owned and maintained by a private landlord. Services are provided primarily to French people. Services are provided on the first and second floors. The GP service consists of one full time GP and two locum GPs providing 12 clinical sessions per week, with shared use of reception and administrators amongst the services.

The clinic also provides dental services. A copy of the full report of the dental service is available on our website:

http://www.cqc.org.uk/search/services/doctors-dentists

The service was in the process of changing 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.

We received feedback from 90 people about the service, including comment cards, most of which were very positive about the service and indicated that clients were treated with kindness and respect. Staff were described as helpful, caring, thorough and professional. There were eight that were positive about the service but mentioned access being an issue due to the stairs.

Our key findings were:

• Systems and processes were in place to keep people safe. The registered manager was the lead member of staff for safeguarding and had undertaken adult and child safeguarding training.
• The provider was aware of current evidence based guidance and they had the skills, knowledge and experience to carry out his role.
• The provider was aware of their responsibility to respect people’s diversity and human rights.
• Patients were able to access care and treatment from the service within an appropriate timescale for their needs.
• There was a complaints procedure in place and information on how to complain was readily available.
• Governance arrangements were in place. There were clear responsibilities, roles and systems of accountability to support good governance and management.
• The service had systems and processes in place to ensure that patients were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in decisions about their care and treatment.
• The service had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management.
• The service had systems in place to collect and analyse feedback from patients.

There were areas where the provider could make improvements and should:

• Review practice's recruitment procedures to ensure that appropriate background checks are completed prior to new staff commencing employment at the practice.
• Only supply unlicensed medicines against valid special clinical needs of an individual patient where there is no suitable licensed medicine available.
• Review their quality improvement activity and introduce two cycle clinical audits.

We carried out this announced inspection on 4 July 2018 under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. We planned the inspection to check whether the registered provider was meeting the legal requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations. The inspection was led by a CQC inspector who was supported by a specialist dental adviser.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask the following five questions:

• Is it safe?

• Is it effective?

• Is it caring?

• Is it responsive to people’s needs?

• Is it well-led?

These questions form the framework for the areas we look at during the inspection.

Our findings were:

Are services safe?

We found that this practice was providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services effective?

We found that this practice was providing effective care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services caring?

We found that this practice was providing caring services in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services responsive?

We found that this practice was providing responsive care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services well-led?

We found that this practice was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Background

Medicare Francais is a private clinic providing GP, dental and paramedical diagnostics, treatment, management and treats both adults and children at 198-200 Earls Court road, London. The building is owned and maintained by a private landlord. Services are provided on the first and second floors.

The practice has parking available on side roads and in nearby car parks.

The dental team includes three dentists, an orthordontiist, two dental nurses and a practice manager. There were two treatments rooms and a decontamination room.

The practice is owned by a company and as a condition of registration must have a person registered with the Care Quality Commission as the registered manager. Registered managers have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations about how the practice is run. The registered manager at Medicare Francais was the practice manager.

We received feedback from 90 people about the service, including comment cards, most of which were very positive about the service and indicated that clients were treated with kindness and respect. Staff were described as helpful, caring, thorough and professional. There were eight that were positive about the service but mentioned access being an issue due to the stairs.

During the inspection we spoke with a dentist, a dental nurse, a receptionist and the practice manager. We looked at practice policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.

Our key findings were:

• The practice appeared clean and well maintained.
• The practice had infection control procedures which reflected published guidance.
• Staff knew how to deal with emergencies. Appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were available.
• The practice had systems to help them manage risk.
• The practice had suitable safeguarding processes and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding adults and children.
• The practice had staff recruitment procedures. However, improvements were required.
• The clinical staff provided patients’ care and treatment in line with current guidelines.
• Staff treated patients with dignity and respect and took care to protect their privacy and personal information.
• The practice was providing preventive care and supporting patients to ensure better oral health.
• The appointment system met patients’ needs.
• The practice had good leadership, but improvements were required in regards to developing a culture of continuous improvement.
• Staff felt involved and supported and worked well as a team.
• The practice asked staff and patients for feedback about the services they provided.
• The practice dealt with complaints positively and efficiently.
• The practice had suitable information governance arrangements.

There were areas where the provider could make improvements. They should:

• Review practice's recruitment procedures to ensure that appropriate background checks are completed prior to new staff commencing employment at the practice.
• Review the practice’s audit protocols to ensure radiography audits are undertaken and where relevant have documented learning points that are shared with staff and resulting improvements can be demonstrated.
• Review the practice’s sharps procedures and ensure the practice is in compliance with the Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013.
• Only supply unlicensed medicines against valid special clinical needs of an individual patient where there is no suitable licensed medicine available.