Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice
Hove Medical Centre was previously inspected on 29 November 2016 and was rated as requires improvement overall and for safe, effective and responsive services and good for caring and well-led services.
At this inspection on 24 November 2017 the practice is rated as good overall.
The key questions are rated as:
Are services safe? – Requires Improvement
Are services effective? – Good
Are services caring? – Good
Are services responsive? – Good
Are services well-led? - Good
As part of our inspection process, we also look at the quality of care for specific population groups. The population groups are rated as:
Older People – Good
People with long-term conditions – Good
Families, children and young people – Good
Working age people (including those recently retired and students – Good
People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable – Good
People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia) – Good
We undertook a comprehensive inspection of Hove Medical Centre on 29 November 2016 under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. The practice was rated as requires improvement for providing safe, effective and responsive services.
We undertook a further announced comprehensive inspection of Hove Medical Centre on 24 November 2017. This inspection was carried out to ensure improvements had been made and to provide a further rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
At this inspection we found:
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The practice had an open and transparent approach to safety but did not always have sufficient effective systems and processes in place to ensure patients were always kept safe. For example, the practice had not completed the required actions after the legionella assessment.
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Staff we spoke with were aware of their responsibilities to raise and report concerns, incidents and near misses. The practice had an appropriate system for recording significant events.
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The practice was able to demonstrate that all staff were up to date with essential training. However, the training matrix adopted by the practice was not always fit for purpose.
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Staff assessed needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance.
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Data from the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) showed the results for the management of patients with long-term conditions were good.
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Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
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Results from the national GP patient survey showed patients were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment
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Patients said they were able to book an appointment that suited their needs. Pre-bookable, on the day appointments, home visits and a telephone consultation service were available. Urgent appointments for those with enhanced needs were also provided the same day. Patients commented on the much improved service in recent months.
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The practice was equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
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Staff told us they felt well supported and enjoyed working at the practice.
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We observed the premises to be visibly clean and tidy.
The areas where the provider must make improvements as they are in breach of regulations are:
The areas where the provider should make improvements are:
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Continue to update practice policies and improve the electronic filing system to ease navigation.
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Improve the training matrix for showing mandatory training requirements.
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Continue to improve patient satisfaction results.
Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)
Chief Inspector of General Practice