A Brighton doctors’ surgery has been rated as good overall by inspectors although they flagged up safety concerns in two non-medical areas.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said that the Albion Street Surgery, in Albion Street, Brighton, was good when it came to being effective, caring, responsive and well led.
When assessing whether services were safe, the CQC said that it requires improvement.
In a report published on Thursday (24 March) the CQC said: “The practice is rated as requires improvement for providing safe services as there are areas where improvements should be made.
“There was an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
“Lessons were shared to make sure action was taken to improve safety in the practice.
“When there are unintended or unexpected safety incidents, people receive reasonable support, truthful information, a verbal and written apology and are told about any actions to improve processes to prevent the same thing happening again.
“The practice had clearly defined and embedded systems, processes and practices in place to keep people safe and safeguarded from abuse. However, not all GPs had attended level 3 children’s safeguarding training.
“Although some risks to patients who used services were assessed the practice had not undertaken a fire risk assessment. The practice had also not undertaken fire drills and staff had not attended fire safety training.”
The surgery, where Manas Sikdar is senior partner, was also rated as good in dealing specifically with various groups. They were
- older people
- people with long-term conditions
- families, children and young people
- working age people, including those recently retired and students
- people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable
- people experiencing poor mental health, including people with dementia
Dr Sikdar is the member group lead for one of the three clinical commissioning group (CCG) localities – the East Locality – in Brighton and Hove. He is also a member of the Brighton and Hove Clinical Commissioning Group governing body.
When assessing whether services were effective, the CQC said: “The practice is rated as good for providing effective services.
“Data showed patient outcomes were mixed for the locality. For example, diabetes performance was significantly lower than national and CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group) averages, whereas asthma performance was slightly higher than the national and CCG averages.
“Staff assessed needs and delivered care in line with current evidence-based guidance.
“There was some evidence that audit was driving improvement in performance to improve patient outcomes. However, not all audits were full cycle.
“Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
