Background to this inspection
Updated
15 August 2022
Dr’s Bacon, Wrigley & Chomicka is located in St Neots at:
Almond Road Surgery
Almond Road
St Neots
Cambridgeshire
PE19 1DZ
The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the Regulated Activities; diagnostic and screening procedures, maternity and midwifery services and treatment of disease, family planning, disorder or injury and surgical procedures. These are delivered from the practice.
The practice is situated within the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough integrated care board (ICB) and delivers General Medical Services (GMS) to a patient population of about 7,335. This is part of a contract held with NHS England.
The practice is part of a wider network Primary Care Network (PCN) of five GP practices called St Neots PCN.
Information published by Public Health England shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the eighth lowest decile (eight of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice population is relative to others.
According to the latest available data, the ethnic make-up of the practice area is 2% Asian, 95% White, 1% Black, 1% Mixed, and 1% Other.
The age distribution of the practice population closely mirrors the local and national averages. There are more male patients registered at the practice compared to females.
There is a team of three GPs who provide cover at the practice. The practice has a team of two Advance Nurse Practitioner (ANP) and a practice nurse who provide nurse led clinics for long-term condition, the practice has a Health Care Assistant (HCA). The GPs are supported at the practice by a team of reception/administration staff. The practice manager and assistant practice manager are based at the practice to provide managerial oversight.
The practice is open between 8 am to 6 pm Monday to Friday. The practice offers a range of appointment types including book on the day, telephone consultations and advance appointments.
Extended access is provided locally by West Cambs Federation, where late evening and weekend appointments are available. Out of hours services are provided by Herts Urgent Care (HUC).
Updated
15 August 2022
We carried out an announced focused inspection at Dr’s Bacon, Wrigley & Chomicka on 20 July 2022 Overall, the practice is rated as good.
Safe - Requires improvement
Effective – Good
Caring – Good (carried forward from previous inspection)
Responsive – Good (carried forward from previous inspection)
Well-led - Good
Following our previous inspection on 4 February 2016 the practice was rated Good overall and for all key questions.
The ratings for the key questions caring and responsive are carried forward from the previous inspection, these key questions have not been included in this inspection due to our methodology and no concerns were identified through the monitoring or inspection process.
The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Dr’s Bacon, Wrigley & Chomicka on our website at www.cqc.org.uk
Why we carried out this inspection
We undertook this inspection as part of a random selection of services rated Good and Outstanding to test the reliability of our new monitoring approach.
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
- A short site visit
- Staff questionnaires
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 processes in place for linking medicines to conditions was not always effective.
- The practice had a system for managing safety alerts but had not continued to monitor historical alerts and ensure safe prescribing for all patients.
- Although the practice and staff told us there was supervision and competency check for clinical staff, we did not see this was always formally recorded for future and proactive learning.
- Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
- The practice adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
- The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of person-centre care.
We found a breach of regulation. The provider must:
- Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care.
In addition, the provider should:
- Continue to improve the uptake of cervical screening.
- Continue to monitor and improve prescribing of antibacterial drugs.
Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.
Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP
Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care