Palmerston Road Surgery

We carried out an announced inspection at Palmerston Road Surgery on 15 June 2022. Overall, the practice is rated as Good

The key questions are rated as:

Safe - Good

Effective – Good

Caring – Good

Responsive – Good

Well-led – Good

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

Why we carried out this inspection

This inspection was a comprehensive inspection as the first inspection under the new provider registration.

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.

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 practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
• Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
• Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
• 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 high-quality, person-centred care.

Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:

• Improve staff understanding of the fire evacuation procedure, in particular the fire assembly point.
• Review sepsis awareness training for receptionists.
• Continue to ensure information is managed in line with current guidance and relevant legislation.
• Embed identified improvements in medicines monitoring processes and develop a programme of audit to measure their effectiveness.
• Continue to develop a system to demonstrate the prescribing competence of non-medical prescribers.
• Improve cervical cancer screening uptake in line with national targets.
• Implement actions identified within the practice’s Do Not Resuscitate improvement plan.
• Develop staff access to the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian for the practice.
• Continue to find ways, such as a patient participation group, to engage with patients and seek their feedback.

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