25 and 31 May 2023
During an inspection looking at part of the service
We carried out an announced focused inspection at Derwent Practice on 25 and 31 May 2023. Overall, the practice is rated as Good.
Safe – Requires improvement.
Effective - Good.
Caring - not inspected, rating of good carried forward from previous inspection.
Responsive - Good.
Well-led – Good.
At our previous inspection of 10 April 2019, the practice was rated good overall and for all of the key questions of safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.
The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Derwent Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk
Why we carried out this inspection.
We carried out this inspection to follow up concerns reported to us.
How we carried out the inspection
This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site.
This included:
- Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing.
- Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system (this was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements).
- Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider.
- Requesting evidence from the provider.
- A short site visit.
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.
We found that:
- From the results of our clinical searches, we saw that patients did not always receive the correct monitoring for high-risk medicines or regular reviews of their long-term conditions. There was no protocol in place for this.
- Patient safety alerts had not been responded to, although a recent process had been set up.
- In the main, systems were in place to keep patients safe, which took into account current best practice.
- Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
- Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
- There was a proactive approach to anticipating and managing risks. Innovation was encouraged to achieve sustained improvements.
- The leadership at the practice were working together to improve the delivery of high-quality, community focused, person-centred care.
- There were high levels of staff satisfaction. Staff were proud of the organisation and there were high levels of staff engagement. Leaders endeavoured to motivate staff.
- There was a proactive approach to seeking new ways to provide care and treatment.
Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:
- Improve and embed effective monitoring and review processes for all patients who are prescribed medicines to treat long term conditions.
- Improve and embed effective processes to manage and act upon patient safety alerts.
- Continue to take steps to train staff on their awareness and on the procedures for significant events.
Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.
Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA
Chief Inspector of Hospitals and Interim Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services.