31 January 2024
During an inspection looking at part of the service
We carried out a targeted assessment of The Health Centre on 31 January 2024 without a site visit. Overall, the practice is rated as good. We rated the key question of responsive as good.
Safe –good – carried forward from previous inspection
Effective – good – carried forward from previous inspection
Caring – good – carried forward from previous inspection
Responsive – good
Well led – good – carried forward from previous inspection
Following our previous inspection in September 2019, the practice was rated good for safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led. At this inspection, we rated the practice good for providing responsive services.
The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Health Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk
Why we carried out this inspection
We carried out this assessment as part of our work to understand how practices are working to try to meet demand for access and to better understand the experiences of people who use services and providers.
How we carried out the review
This assessment was carried out remotely. It did not include a site visit.
The process included:
- Conducting an interview with the provider and members of staff using video conferencing.
- Reviewing patient feedback from a range of sources
- Requesting evidence from the provider.
- Reviewing data we hold about the service
- Seeking information/feedback from relevant stakeholders
Our findings
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, patients, the public and other organisations.
We found that:
- Patient satisfaction relating to telephone access had seen upward trends in patient satisfaction since 2021.
- Services met the needs of individual people and were always delivered in a way to ensure continuity of care.
- Patients could always access care and treatment in a timely way and appointments were always easily accessible in a way that suited a patient’s individual need.
- The provider supported a homeless charity to ensure medical care was given.
- The practice was in an area of high deprivation. The staff donated and supported a local food bank and referred patients who required extra meal support.
- The practice had regular meetings for innovative ways to improve access through patient and staff feedback.
Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.
Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA
Chief Inspector of Health Care