07 December 2022
During an inspection looking at part of the service
We carried out an announced focused inspection at Newbury Group Practice on 7 December 2022. Overall, the practice is rated as good.
The rating for the inspected key question is as follows: -
Effective – Requires improvement
The provider and location were previously inspected in December 2021 when we rated the service as good overall but requires improvement for the key question of Effective.
The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Newbury Group Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk
Why we carried out this inspection
This inspection was an announced focused inspection in line with our inspection programme of inspecting practices where there is indication of a change in the quality of care provided.
How we carried out the inspection
Throughout the pandemic CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, taking into account the circumstances arising as a result of the pandemic, and in order to reduce risk, we have conducted our inspections differently.
This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site. This was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements.
This included:
- Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing
- Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system and discussing findings with the provider
- Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider
- Requesting evidence from the provider
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 have rated this practice as good overall.
We found that:
- The provider did not have clear consistent processes for managing risks, issues and performance. For example, medicines management processes related to monitoring high-risk medicines and patients with certain long-term conditions. and possible misdiagnoses.
- There was evidence that the practice did not have consistent processes to identify and act upon data to ensure that data was acted upon in a timely manner.
- The provider did not have a consistent system in place to ensure that medicines safety alerts (with reference to historical safety alerts) continued to be monitored and reviewed to ensure appropriate prescribing of medicines.
The areas where the provider must make improvements: -
- Ensure that care and treatment is provided in a safe way.
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 Hospitals and Interim Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services