• Doctor
  • GP practice

Danebridge Medical Practice

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

29 London Road, Northwich, Cheshire, CW9 5HR (01606) 544544

Provided and run by:
Danebridge Medical Practice

All Inspections

6 July 2023

During a monthly review of our data

We carried out a review of the data available to us about Danebridge Medical Practice on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.

This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.

If you have concerns about Danebridge Medical Practice, you can give feedback on this service.

12 October 2022

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out an announced focused inspection at Danebridge Medical Practice on 12 October 2022.

Overall, the practice is rated as Good.

Safe - Good

Effective - Good

Caring - Good

Responsive - Good

Well-led – Good

Following our previous inspection on 18 May 2021, the practice was rated Good overall and Requires Improvement for providing Safe services. This inspection focused on the breaches of regulation in the Safe domain.

At this inspection we carried over the ratings from the previous inspection for the Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led domains.

The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Danebridge Medical Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we carried out this inspection

This inspection was a focused follow-up of information without undertaking a site visit to follow up on:

  • The breaches of regulation from the inspection on 18 May 2021.
  • The areas identified where the provider should make improvements from the inspection on 18 May 2021.

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 (this was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements).
  • 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:

  • Action had been taken to ensure patients had the required monitoring of their health before repeat medications were prescribed. Medication was being reviewed in a timely way and patients were appropriately coded, so that their health monitoring requirements could be easily identified.

The provider had also made improvements to the service as recommended in the ‘shoulds’ from the last inspection report.

  • A risk assessment to determine the range of emergency medicines held was in place.
  • The provider was able to demonstrate how they monitored the prescribing competence of non-medical prescribers.
  • The protocol for the management of blood test results had been revised.
  • A system had been established to ensure Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) decisions documented all the required information.
  • Improvements had been made to the safety systems and risk records.

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

18 May 2021

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out an announced inspection at Danebridge Medical Practice on 12 and 18 May 2021. Overall, the practice is rated as Good.

The ratings for each key question: -

Safe - Requires improvement

Effective - Good

Well-led - Good

Following our previous inspection on 19 February 2019, the practice was rated Requires Improvement overall. It was rated Requires Improvement for providing Safe and Well-led services and Good for providing Effective, Caring and Responsive services.

The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Danebridge Medical Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we carried out this inspection

This inspection was a focused follow-up review of information which included a site visit to follow up on:

  • Breaches of regulations and ‘shoulds’ identified in the previous inspection
  • Ratings for Responsive and Caring were carried forward from the previous inspection.

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
  • Conducting an interview of Patient Participation Group members 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 site visit which included a review of records and discussion with staff

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 and Requires improvement for the safe key question and population group People with long-term conditions.

We rated the practice as Requires Improvement for providing Safe services because:

  • Improvements were needed to the management of medication to ensure patient safety.
  • Improvements were needed to the system for identifying patients with long-term conditions to ensure they received appropriate monitoring of their health needs.

We rated the practice as Requires Improvement for People with long-term conditions because:

  • Improvements were needed to the system for identifying patients with long-term conditions to ensure they received appropriate monitoring of their health needs.

We found that:

  • The provider had taken action to improve the service provided following the last inspection.
  • There were clear systems in place for managing complaints and significant events and ensuring learning was communicated.
  • The recruitment processes had been improved and the practice had clear systems, practices and processes to keep people safe and safeguarded from abuse.
  • The provider had put in place a system to identify issues that needed to be reported to CQC.
  • There was an effective system for monitoring the training needs of clinicians and all staff and ensuring any training gaps were addressed.
  • The provider had reviewed the system for monitoring blood results to ensure these were reviewed in a timely manner.
  • Improvements had been made to the management of some medications, such as high-risk drugs.
  • The provider had an improved programme of quality improvement and used information about care and treatment to make improvements.
  • The provider had adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. This included regular communication with staff to ensure they knew about changes and felt supported.
  • Improvements had been made to monitor the systems to refer patients with suspected cancer to hospital, to ensure prescriptions were managed securely and monitor medication taken on home visits.
  • Improvements had been made to infection control practices.
  • The provider encouraged a culture to provide good quality care to patients.
  • Staff felt well supported and were clear about their roles and responsibilities.
  • Improvements had been made to ensure there was better communication with staff. Daily briefings were held which were then communicated to all staff by email.

We found breaches of regulations. The provider must:

  • Ensure care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients.

We also found the provider should:

  • Record a risk assessment to determine the range of emergency medicines held at the practices.
  • Record the monitoring undertaken of the prescribing competence of non-medical prescribers.
  • Clarify the protocol for managing blood results to indicate which staff are responsible for actions.
  • Establish a system to check Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) decisions document all the required information.
  • Put in place a procedure for the safe use of oxygen to support the risk assessment.
  • Keep the legionella risk assessments under review to address the actions indicated.
  • Ensure that a record is made of in-house checks of the fire safety systems.

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

19/02/2019

During a routine inspection

We rated the practice as good for providing caring, effective and responsive services because:

  • The practice reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
  • Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
  • The practice organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.

We rated the population groups as good.

The area where the provider must make improvements are:

  • Ensure that care and treatment is provided in a safe way.
  • Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care.
  • Ensure specified information is available regarding each person employed or appointed.
  • Ensure specified information is referred to CQC in accordance with the (Registration) Regulations 2009.

(Please see the specific details on action required at the end of this report).

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

  • Introduce a system to monitor two-week rule referrals to ensure patients receive the clinical care they are referred for.
  • Review the security of NHS prescriptions in the practice and ensure there are systems in place to track and monitor their use.
  • Make a record of the stock levels and expiry dates of emergency medicines contained within GP bags.
  • Introduce a system for the regular cleaning of carpeted areas at Sandiway.
  • Introduce a system to check infection control standards are being maintained in between annual audits, to record spot checks of the cleaning undertaken by the cleaners and to record when equipment such as nebulisers are cleaned.
  • Introduce a system to audit patient consent to check this is being appropriately sought and recorded.
  • Introduce a comprehensive programme of quality improvement and use this information about care and treatment to make improvements.
  • The remit for referrals to the self-employed counsellors to be documented.
  • The written agreement between the counsellor, practice and patient to clearly identify what information is to be recorded, where it is to be stored and who has access to this information.

Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGPChief Inspector of General Practice

9th June 2015

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Danebridge Medical Practice. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Specifically, we found the practice to be good for providing well-led, effective, caring, safe and responsive services. It was also good for providing services to meet the needs of all population groups of patients. We found that some improvements should be made to record keeping in relation to the safety of the service.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

  • There were systems in place to protect patients from avoidable harm and abuse. Staff were aware of procedures for safeguarding patients from risk of abuse. There were clear processes in place to investigate and act upon any incident and to share learning with staff to mitigate future risk. There were appropriate systems in place to protect patients from the risks associated with medicines. The staffing numbers and skill mix were reviewed to ensure that patients were safe and their care and treatment needs were met. We found improvements should be made to the records for staff recruitment and the management of medical equipment.
  • Patients care needs were assessed and care and treatment was being considered in line with best practice national guidelines. Staff were proactive in promoting good health and referrals were made to other agencies to ensure patients received the treatments they needed.
  • Feedback from patients showed they were overall happy with the care given by all staff. They felt listened to, treated with dignity and respect and involved in decision making around their care and treatment.
  • The practice planned its services to meet the differing needs of patients. The practice encouraged patients to give their views about the services offered and made changes as a consequence.
  • There was a clear leadership structure in place. Quality and performance were monitored, risks were identified and managed. The practice ensured that staff had access to learning and improvement opportunities.

There were areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.

Importantly the provider should:

  • Make a record of the physical and mental fitness of staff during the recruitment process.
  • Review the system at Kingsmead Medical Centre for ensuring defibrillator pads and oxygen masks for children are immediately accessible to staff in an emergency.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

6 February 2014

During a routine inspection

We spoke with nine patients who told us they were happy with the consultations they had with their GP. They said they had time to discuss their concerns during the consultation and that treatment, tests and test results were generally explained to them. They said that where needed they were given written information about health conditions. Five of the nine patients spoken with said it was sometimes difficult to get through to the service by telephone. Some comments made were:-

'I have every confidence in my GP they listen to me and believe me. They have always explained any treatments or change in medication really well and have given me information leaflets for me to take home.'

'I came in today to have an annual review they sent a reminder to me and when I rang them they were happy to accommodate a time that was better for me. My doctor takes the time to explain things to me which reduces my stress levels.'

'I have needed a lot of tests done and have had a lot of appointments with my GP they have made double appointments so that I don't feel rushed. I really feel that they care about me.'

We found that patients were respected and involved in the service provided to them.

There were practices in place to ensure patients experienced care and treatment that met their needs.

Appropriate measures were in place to ensure vulnerable adults and children would be protected from abuse.

We found that the service had quality assurance systems to ensure patients were protected from risks to their health, welfare and safety.