Eastbourne healthcare business receives 'requires improvement' rating following inspection

Old Orchard Consulting Rooms on Old Orchard Road received the rating from the CQC following an inspection in February.

Old Orchard Consulting Rooms is an independent service providing consultation and examination with consultant surgeons, specialising in urology, colorectal and general surgery.

The CQC said the consulting service received a ‘requires improvement’ rating in the ‘safe', ‘effective’ and ‘well-led’ categories. Despite this, the business did get a ‘good’ rating for the ‘caring’ and ‘responsive’ categories.

The CQC explained that the inspection was planned to check whether the service was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008. This was also the provider’s first inspection of the service since it registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

A CQC spokesperson said: “This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site.

“This included – speaking with staff in person, on the telephone and using video conferencing, requesting documentary evidence from the provider, a site visit.

“We carried out an announced site visit to the service on February 20. Prior to our visit we requested documentary evidence electronically from the provider. We spoke to staff on the telephone and using video conferencing prior to and following our site visit.”

The report said: “There were safeguarding systems and processes to keep people safe. However, some staff had not completed training in the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults at an appropriate level to support their role, in line with current guidance. There were processes in place for the induction and monitoring of training of administration staff. There was a lack of evidence of completed training for consultants.

“There were records to demonstrate that recruitment checks had been carried out in accordance with regulations for administration staff. However, there was a lack of checks undertaken of clinical consultants. Arrangements for chaperoning were displayed. However, the offer or attendance of a chaperone was not recorded within the patient’s clinical record.

“There were governance and monitoring processes to ensure the safety of premises, including fire safety. However, there was a lack of a documented fire risk assessment for the premises. There was a lack of monitoring and audit of clinical record keeping. Written policies did not always provide accurate and clear information to staff in line with current guidance.”

The CQC added that it received positive feedback from patients as well as the staff who worked there.

The report said: “There was effective and open communication and information sharing amongst the small staff team. There were regular team meetings and staff felt motivated to contribute to driving improvement within the service. Staff were subject to regular review of their performance and felt well supported by managers.

“Service users were asked to provide feedback on the service they had received and there were high levels of patient satisfaction across the service, complaints were also managed appropriately.”

People can read the full CQC report at cqc.org.uk

Old Orchard Consulting Rooms have been approached for comment.