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.
“There was evidence of appraisals and personal development plans for all staff.
“Staff worked with multidisciplinary teams to understand and meet the range and complexity of people’s needs.”
Caring
When assessing whether services were caring, the CQC said: “The practice is rated as good for providing caring services.
“Data showed that patients rated the practice higher than others for several aspects of care.
“Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in decisions about their care and treatment.
“Information for patients about the services available was easy to understand and accessible.
“We also saw that staff treated patients with kindness and respect and maintained confidentiality.”
The CQC said: “The practice is rated as good for providing responsive services.
“Practice staff reviewed the needs of its local population and engaged with the NHS England area team and Clinical Commissioning Group to secure improvements to services where these were identified.
“For example, the practice was actively participating in a proactive care project with the CCG and other practices in the locality.
Easy
“Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and that there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
“The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
“Information about how to complain was available and easy to understand and evidence showed that the practice responded quickly to issues raised. Learning from complaints was shared with staff and other stakeholders.
The CQC also said: “The practice is rated as good for being well led.
“The practice had a clear vision and strategy to deliver high-quality care and promote good outcomes for patients.
“There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The practice had a number of policies and procedures to govern activity and held regular governance meetings.
“There was an overarching governance framework which supported the delivery of the strategy and good quality care. This included arrangements to monitor and improve quality and identify risk.
“The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour. The partners encouraged a culture of openness and honesty. The practice had systems in place for knowing about notifiable safety incidents
“The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on. The patient participation group was active.
“There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels.”
The Albion Street Surgery, which has about 6,300 patients, was inspected on Tuesday 17 November.
