CQC Report rates Peninsula Heart Clinic as "GOOD" overall but also recognises Outstanding Practice

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has inspected the Peninsula Heart Clinic and awarded it with an overall rating of “GOOD”. This is the first rating of the heart clinic since it opened in 2019.

Peninsula Heart Clinic also won praise from the CQC for its innovative use of medical technology in delivering diagnostic procedures, and for developing enhanced systems to improve both patient outcome monitoring and patient feedback.

Under the heading of “Outstanding Practice”, the CQC reported: “Staff had developed patient education videos to reduce patient and family anxiety prior to a procedure and to introduce the staff they were likely to encounter during their treatment journey.”

There was particular praise for the vision, culture and leadership for the organisation. The report made the following findings: 

• The service had a vision for what it wanted to achieve and a strategy to turn it into action, developed with all relevant stakeholders. The vision and strategy were focused on sustainability of services and aligned to local plans within the wider health economy. Leaders and staff understood and knew how to apply them and monitor progress.

• Staff felt respected, supported and valued. They were focused on the needs of patients receiving care. The service promoted equality and diversity in daily work, and provided opportunities for career development.

• The service had an open culture where patients, their families and staff could raise concerns without fear.

• Leaders had the skills and abilities to run the service. They understood and managed the priorities and issues the service faced. They were visible and approachable in the service for patients and staff. They supported staff to develop their skills and take on more senior roles.

• Leaders operated effective governance processes, throughout the service and with partner organisations. Staff at all levels were clear about their roles and accountabilities and had regular opportunities to meet, discuss and learn from the performance of the service.

• Leaders and teams used systems to manage performance effectively. They identified and escalated relevant risks and issues and identified actions to reduce their impact. They had plans to cope with unexpected events. Staff contributed to decision-making to help avoid financial pressures compromising the quality of care.

• The service collected reliable data and analysed it. Staff could find the data they needed, in easily accessible formats, to understand performance, make decisions and improvements. The information systems were integrated and secure. Data or notifications were consistently submitted to external organisations as required.

• Leaders and staff actively and openly engaged with patients, staff, equality groups, the public and local organisations to plan and manage services. They collaborated with partner organisations to help improve services for patients.

The CQC report also commented on the consistent high levels of patient feedback provided by the service, stating: “Patient feedback was overwhelmingly positive. We saw a patient feedback folder with many thank you cards and letters from patients who had used the service. Both friends and family form feedback and Google reviews showed the same positive comments. Over 99% of patients who gave feedback were extremely likely to recommend the clinic to friends and family. These comments were fed back to staff to support team morale.”

Peninsula Heart Clinic Board members welcomed the CQC report.

Mr David Smith, Registered Manager said: “This is our first CQC report since we opened in 2019 and we are extremely pleased that the professionalism and continued commitment to providing exceptional care for our patients has been recognised in this way.”

Dr Girish Viswanathan, Clinical Director of both Peninsula Heart Clinic and the Cardiology Department of University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust said: “This is an excellent report and a strong endorsement of the emphasis we place on delivering the safest and best possible care to patients with heart disease. Cardiology is a rapidly changing environment requiring leadership, technological innovation and ambition if it is to thrive. These key qualities have always been available in abundance at Peninsula Heart Clinic and their senior management team. Whatever challenges we face looking forward, I know patients will remain our focus, and our commitment to them will guide everything that we do.”

Dr Anil Ohri, Chief Executive Officer for Regent’s Park Healthcare, the parent company of Peninsula Heart Clinic, said: “This report is a fantastic achievement for Peninsula Heart Clinic.” He added: “Our mission has always been to provide world-class cardiac services using a specialist model that leverages innovation, the best-in-knowledge clinical pathways and smarter operating processes. This model is in play at Peninsula Heart Clinic and it has created value in several ways: Scale, standardisation and repetition of best practices increases operational efficiency. Staff are allowed to focus on doing a few things well as opposed to being stretched over multiple conditions. Concentrating efforts in our single specialty leads to a virtuous circle whereby we accumulate experience, improve safety, reduce cost and ultimately deliver better patient outcomes.”  

For further details and to read the full report, please go to: https://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-6906229611/inspection-summary