Knightsbridge Doctors

We carried out an announced inspection at Knightsbridge Doctors on 13 July 2022. This is the first inspection under this provider registration and it is a rated inspection.

This practice is rated as Requires improvement overall.

The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Knightsbridge Doctors-Basil Mansions, the previous registered provider, on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Requires improvement

Are services effective? – Requires improvement

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? – Requires improvement

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Knightsbridge Doctors as part of our inspection programme. The practice is an independent GP practice located at 15 Basil Mansions, Basil Street, London, SW3 1AP.

Knightsbridge Doctors is an independent provider of medical services and offers a full range of private GP services.

Nine people provided feedback via online reviews about the practice. All the feedback we received was positive, with an average of 4/5 stars, about the staff and services provided by the practice.

Dr Eoin James Waters, ‘the provider’ is registered with CQC as an individually-registered person. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the practice is run. They are registered with the CQC to provide the regulated activities of diagnostic and screening procedures and treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

This practice is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of some, but not all, of the services it provides. There are some exemptions from regulation by CQC which relate to particular types of regulated activities and services and these are set out in Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

Knightsbridge Doctors provides a range of student and occupational health services and third party visa medicals for immigration purposes. For example, for clients wishing to emigrate to Australia, Canada and New Zealand, which do not come within CQC scope of registration. Therefore, we did not inspect or report on these services.

Our key findings were:

• The safety systems and processes in place required regular monitoring to ensure they remained effective.
• There were gaps in relation to medicines prescribing.
• Learning from significant events was not always clear.
• The provider had safeguarding systems and processes in place.
• Staff did not always have the information they needed to deliver safe care and treatment to patients.
• There were gaps in some staff training.
• The practice did not have a consistent system in place to monitor and manage patient complaints.
• Clinical care was not consistently delivered in line with national guidance.
• The practice respected patients’ privacy and dignity.
• Staff helped patients to be involved in decisions about care and treatment.
• Staff worked together and worked well with other organisations, to deliver care and treatment.
• Patients were able to access care and treatment from the practice within an appropriate timescale for their needs.
• We saw no evidence of discrimination when making care and treatment decisions.
• Leaders at all levels were visible and approachable. They worked closely with staff and others to make sure they prioritised compassionate and inclusive leadership.

The areas where the provider must make improvements as they are in breach of regulations are:

• Ensure care and treatment is provided in a safe way for patients.
• Establish effective systems to and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care.

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

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Monitor that carpets in clinical areas are cleaned every six months.
• Take action to streamline medical emergency policies into one document.
• Continue to embed the business contingency plan with practice staff.
• Carry out two-cycle audits as part of improvement activity.
• Take action to embed the DNACPR processes already in place within an appropriate policy.
• Take action to record learning from complaints.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

Chief Inspector of Hospitals and Interim Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services