Background to this inspection
Updated
13 September 2021
Fitzalan Medical Group is located in Littlehampton at:
Fitzalan Medical Centre,
Fitzalan Road
Littlehampton
West Sussex
BN17 5JR
The practice has a branch surgery at:
Wick Surgery
66 Clun Road
Littlehampton
BN17 7EB
The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the Regulated Activities; diagnostic and screening procedures, maternity and midwifery services and treatment of disease, disorder or injury and surgical procedures. These are delivered from both sites.
The practice is situated within the NHS West Sussex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and delivers General Medical Services (GMS). This is part of a contract held with NHS England.
The practice is part of a wider network of three GP practices in the Arun and Angmering locality.
Information published by Public Health England shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the fourth lowest decile (four out of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice population is relative to others.
According to the latest available data, the ethnic make-up of the practice area is 2% Asian, 96% White, 0.5% Black, 1.4% Mixed, and 0.3% Other.
The age distribution of the practice population closely mirrors the local and national averages.
There are two GP partners and a team of seven salaried GPs who provide cover at both practices. There are four paramedic practitioners. The practice has a team of six nurses who provide nurse led clinics for long-term conditions at both the main and the branch locations. There are two health care assistants, two phlebotomists and one healthcare assistant/phlebotomist. The GPs are supported at the practice by a team of reception and administration staff. The practice manager and a deputy practice manager are based at the main location to provide managerial oversight.
For information about the practice and its opening hours please visit: -
www.fitzalanmedicalgroup.com
Extended access is provided locally by a GP federation, where late evening and weekend appointments are available. Out of hours services are provided by NHS 111.
Updated
13 September 2021
We carried out an announced inspection at Fitzalan Medical Group between the 27 and 29 July 2021. Overall, the practice is rated as Good.
Safe - Good
Effective - Good
Caring – not inspected
Responsive – not inspected
Well-led - Good
Following our previous comprehensive inspection on 4 April 2019, the practice was rated Requires Improvement overall and for the safe, effective and well-led key questions. A warning notice was issued for regulation 17 Good Governance. The practice was rated as Good for providing caring and responsive services. All six population groups were rated as Good.
On 11 July 2019 we undertook a focused inspection to follow up on the breach of regulations identified at our previous inspection in April 2019. We found that the practice had made improvements and that the warning notice had been met. The ratings remain unchanged from the April 2019 inspection as its purpose was to review compliance against the warning notice issued.
The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Fitzalan Medical group on our website at www.cqc.org.uk
Why we carried out this inspection.
This inspection was a focused comprehensive inspection to follow up on:
- Safe, effective and well-led domains.
- Areas we said the practice should improve.
How we carried out the inspection,
Throughout the pandemic CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, considering 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
- A short staff survey
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 and Good for all population groups.
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.
- The premises were clean and hygienic, and the practice had put enhanced infection control measures in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- There was a strong emphasis on learning and development. Staff had the training and skills required for their roles.
- The practice had a clear vision to improve access to its services and reduce health inequalities.
- The practice had embedded systems of governance and had effective arrangements for managing performance and risk.
Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:
- Continue to implement and review measures to improve the patient experience of getting through to the practice on the phone and making an appointment.
- In line with prescribing guidelines, ensure that patients have had all the necessary health monitoring in relation to the repeat prescribing of high-risk medicines.
- Improve the uptake for cervical screening to ensure at least 80% coverage in line with the national target.
- Look at ways to improve staff morale considering increased pressure and demand post pandemic.
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