Practice Based Clinical Services Limited Also known as North Romford Primary Care ENT Service

Updated 6 July 2021

Practice Based Clinical Services Limited (PBCS) is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of the provision of advice or treatment by, or under the supervision of, a medical practitioner, including the prescribing of medicines for the purposes of ear, nose or throat (ENT) problems. The service does not have any patients formally registered with it but provides community-based ENT services for NHS patients and works with CCG Commissioners on an “Any Qualified Provider” (AQP) basis. The contracted services are provided via two NHS Commissioners in Sussex. All services are provided in approved NHS premises and are exclusively for patients who have ENT problems and only after direct referrals from the patient’s General Practitioner (GP). The Provider does not charge patients directly for services provided.

The service’s registered address is Rush Green Medical Centre, 261 Dagenham Road, Romford, Essex, RM7 0XR, however no patients are seen at this administrative site. The service rents a clinical room twice a month from two separate GP practices; Fitzalan Medical Centre, Fitzalan Road. Littlehampton. BN17 5JR and Saxonbrook Northgate Medical Centre, Cross Keys House, 14 Haslett Avenue West, Crawley, West Sussex, RH10 1HS.

The service has two directors, one of whom is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. The clinical staffing comprises the two directors themselves plus sessional input from a small team of associate specialists in ENT who are engaged by PBCS via contracts for service on a self-employed basis. Nurses/Healthcare Assistants (HCAs) are engaged also on sessional basis.

Updated 6 July 2021

This service is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection 15 September 2020 Good)

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

We previously carried out a focussed inspection on 15 September 2020 at Practice Based Clinical Services Limited (PBCS). At that inspection we inspected the safe domain and rated it as requires improvement. We found the following concerns:

• The provider did not have an effective system in place to assure themselves that the facilities and equipment at the sites where they saw patients were safe for patients. Risk assessments submitted as evidence did not all detail areas where action was required or show what action had been taken to address areas where remedial action was required.

• The system to monitor oversight of required checks for emergency equipment remained ineffective. The provider had not put a process in place to ensure the regular monitoring of safety, in order to assure themselves emergency equipment was safe and ready for use in case of an emergency.

As a result of the concerns identified at the last inspection, we served requirement notices, as the provider was failing to comply with the relevant requirements of Regulation 12, of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, Safe care and treatment.

At this inspection, we carried out an announced focused inspection at Practice Based Clinical Services Limited on 3 June 2021 to follow up and check on the service’s improvement within the safe domain and compliance with requirement notices served at the last inspection in September 2020. We found that all the issues identified at the September 2020 inspection had been addressed appropriately.

Our key findings were:

• The practice now had evidence of all appropriate risk assessments and had carried out the recommended actions. Risk assessments included fire safety; health and safety; premises security; infection prevention control and legionella.
• The practice now had an appropriate and safe system in place to ensure oversight of the required checks of emergency medicines and equipment.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP
Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care

Updated 6 July 2021