We carried out an announced inspection at Castlecroft Medical Practice over a period of five days, the final inspection date was the 12 August 2021 when we carried out an onsite inspection visit. Overall, the practice is rated as good.
Ratings for each key question:
Safe – Good
Effective – Good
Well Led – Good
Castlecroft Medical Practice was previously inspected in September 2019 and rated requires improvement overall and for all population groups.
The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Castlecroft Medical Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk
Why we carried out this review
This inspection was an announced inspection to follow up on:
- the requirement notices issued at the last inspection in September 2019.
How we carried out the inspection
Throughout the pandemic CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, taking into account the circumstances arising as a result of the pandemic, and in order to reduce risk, we have conducted our reviews differently. 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 / telephone
- Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system and discussing the findings with the provider
- Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider
- Requesting evidence from the provider
- Carrying out a 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
- 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:
- Effective systems had been implemented to ensure medicines and equipment were secure and safe to be used.
- Arrangements had been put in place to support the management and monitoring of patients prescribed high risk medicines.
- The practice had ensured all clinical staff had access to safety alerts related to patients care and treatment and these were monitored to ensure appropriate action was taken.
- The arrangements for the management of incidents and complaints was reviewed and systems introduced to demonstrate learning and improvements at the practice.
- Staff were clear and knowledgeable about their lead roles and responsibilities.
- Effective governance arrangements had been implemented to mitigate risks and ensure patients were kept safe.
Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:
- Continue to improve the monitoring and review of patients prescribed high risk medicines.
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