Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We visited Botesdale Health Centre Surgery on the 4 December 2014 and carried out a comprehensive inspection.

We found that the practice was good overall across all the areas we inspected.

Our key findings were as follows:

• The practice had a good understanding of the needs of the practice population and services were offered to meet these.

• Patients were satisfied with the service and felt they were treated with dignity, care and respect and involved in their care.

• There were systems in place to provide a safe, effective, caring and well run service. Practice staff were kind and caring and treated patients with dignity and respect.

• The practice was safe for both patients and staff. Robust procedures helped to identify risks and where improvements could be made.

• The clinical staff at the practice provided effective consultations, care and treatment in line with recommended guidance.

• Services provided met the needs of all population groups.

• The practice had strong visible leadership and staff were involved in the vision of providing high quality care and treatment.

We saw areas of outstanding practice including:

The practice provides X-ray and Ultrasound equipment on site for the use of patients and those registered at neighbouring practices. This is overseen by a team of radiologists from West Suffolk Hospital.

The practice worked with the West Suffolk Hospital to provide outreach clinics at the practice. These included monthly Urology clinics, monthly Rheumatology clinic and fortnightly Orthopaedic clinics. There were weekly audiology clinics at the practice and monthly Women’s Health clinics which were provided by a specialist physiotherapy service from the West Suffolk Physiotherapy team. These clinics were pre-booked directly with the hospital. This gave patients greater flexibility to choose where they would prefer to attend rather than travelling to local hospitals for these services.

However, there were also areas of practice where the provider should make improvements.

The provider should:

• Ensure staff who are used for chaperoning patients receive chaperoning training to ensure they understand and can fulfil their role.

• Ensure the security of vaccines and unused prescription forms is in line with national guidance.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice