Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Beacon Medical on 17 November 2015 . Overall, the practice was rated as good.

• Staff understood their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses. When things went wrong, reviews and investigations were sufficiently reviewed and lessons learnt were communicated to all staff.

• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance. Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and any further training needs had been identified and training planned.

• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.

• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.

• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with the GP and that there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.

• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.

• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, whom it acted on and we saw evidence of this.

• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

The practice was part of a network of seven practices, covering a geographically three CCG in the North West. This group forms a support network for clinical and non-clinical staff. They meet on a monthly basis where they share ideas, learning, and discuss events. The management team also receive governance support in areas of Human Resources (HR) and policies.

The areas where the provider should make improvements by :

• Install an alert system on entrance, so staff can help wheelchair users to access the building

• Install an alert bell in the patients’ disabled toilets

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice