Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Limes Medical Practice on 21 July 2016. The overall rating for the practice was good. The full comprehensive report of the 21 July 2016 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Limes Medical Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
This inspection was an announced focused follow-up inspection carried out on 9 March 2017 to confirm that the practice had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breaches in regulations that we identified in our previous inspection on 21 July 2016. This report covers our findings in relation to those requirements and also additional improvements made since our last inspection.
Overall the practice is rated as good.
The practice was previously inspected on 21 July 2016. The inspection was a comprehensive inspection under the Health and Social Care Act 2008. At that inspection the practice was rated good overall. However, within the key question safe, the following areas were identified as requiring improvement because the practice was not meeting the legislation at that time:
Regulation 18 Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014: Staffing
- Not all staff had received an appraisal from an appropriate person.
- Not all staff were supported enough in their role by the practice partners to enable them to carry out their role within a normal working week.
Our key findings during this inspection were as follows:
- We saw evidence that staff were provided with an appraisal of their work
- Discussion confirmed that staff received the support they needed.
The practice also provided evidence of other improvements identified following the previous inspection on 21 July 2016, for example:
- We saw evidence which demonstrated that discussions about NICE guidelines and MHRA alerts were now included in clinical meetings and staff were given a hard copy of these documents which were signed by the GPs and nursing staff.
- The nursing staff had changed their staff rota which enabled them to meet to discuss their work.
- The system for GPs signing patient specific directions (PSD) had been reviewed so that they were completed correctly.
- Although a fire drill had not been carried out due to a fault on the alarm system, one had been planned for the following week.
Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)
Chief Inspector of General Practice