A Hove family doctors’ surgery has been rated good overall after an inspection by the government’s official watchdog, the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
But the report urged Hove Medical Centre, in West Way, Hangleton, to tighten up safety procedures in a few areas saying that when it came to safety the surgery “requires improvement”.
The chief inspector of primary medical services and integrated care Rosie Benneyworth said: “We found that there were systems within the practice to assess, manage and mitigate risks.
“Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs. There was evidence of improved patient outcomes.
“Staff training was monitored and training completion rates were high.
“Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
“The practice had made changes to the appointment system so that more appointments were available on the day. There was evidence of positive patient feedback about this.
“The practice organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
“There was positive patient feedback with references to improvements being made.
“The way the practice was led and managed to promote the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.”
But Dr Benneyworth said: “There was no risk assessment of emergency medicines stored within the practice. The emergency medicines did not include a diuretic for the treatment of heart failure and there was no clear rationale for this.
“There was no log of safety alerts to record action taken in response to the alert. We saw evidence of alerts that practice staff had not been aware of.
“A significant event log and meeting minutes did not contain adequate detail to ensure ongoing monitoring of improvements and the identification of trends.
“GP patient survey results showed that the practice was below average in relation to patients feeling listened to and treated with care and concern. However, there was some evidence of improvement to patients’ general experience at the practice.
“The areas where the provider must make improvement is ensure care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients.
“In addition, the provider should continue to work to improve areas of patient satisfaction such as in relation to patients feeling listened to and treated with care and concern (and) review how significant events are recorded, including the amount of detail, to ensure that enough information is collated to support the review of events and the identification of trends.”
The CQC inspection took place on Wednesday 27 March, with the report coming out earlier this month.
It said that the GP (general practice) surgery cared for about 9,100 patients, with more over-65s and under-18s on average compared with other local practices.
The staff included five GP (general practitioner) partners and one salaried GP as well as a nurse practitioner, four nurses and two healthcare assistants.
The CQC report added: “The practice is a training practice for GP registrars (qualified doctors who are undergoing further specialist GP training), medical and nursing students, paramedics, pharmacists and physician associates.”
To read the report in full, click here.
