Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Branch End Surgery on 21 October 2014. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The practice submitted an action plan following this inspection.

The breaches we identified when we carried out the inspection on 21 October 2014 related to:

• Regulation 12 HSCA 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010 Cleanliness and infection control (which corresponds to Regulation 12 of the HSCA 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014).

After the comprehensive inspection the practice wrote to us to say what they would do to meet the above regulation. We carried out a focused inspection on 16 June 2016 to check whether the provider had taken steps to comply with the above legal requirement. This report only covers our findings in relation to those requirements. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Branch End Surgery on our website at www.cqco.org.uk.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

• Improvements had been made to cleanliness and infection control following our last inspection on 21 October 2014. The practice had addressed most of the issues identified.
• The practice had an effective system of stock control, date checks and point of use checks to ensure that all single use clinical instruments stored and used were within their ‘use by’ dates. Used and out of date instruments and equipment were disposed of in accordance with appropriate guidance.
• The practice had effective cleaning schedules and an infection control risk assessment. However, the records kept of carpet cleaning could be improved.

The area where the provider should make improvements are:

• Review their arrangements for the recording and monitoring of staff training in infection control.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out this comprehensive inspection on 21 October 2014, and visited the location of Branch End, Stocksfield.  The practice provides a Primary Medical Services contract (PMS) to approximately 5,500 patients from Stocksfield and surrounding areas, which are predominantly rural.

Overall, this practice was rated as good.

Our key findings were as follows:

• Patients reported good access to the surgery and told us they did not have particular problems in obtaining appointments.
• Patients reported the practice provided a caring service, where people were treated with dignity and respect. The practice was highly valued locally.
• The practice held regular multi-disciplinary care meetings to ensure good care was provided.
• The practice had strong clinical audit and incident reporting systems.
• There was a strong stable team, providing good peer support to staff members. 

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

Importantly, the provider must:

• Implement a system of stock control, date checks and point of use checks to ensure that all single use clinical instruments stored and used  are within their ‘use by’ dates.
• Dispose in accordance with the appropriate guidance any unused instruments or equipment which have expired.
• Improve cleaning schedules, infection control auditing and risk assessment, in order to demonstrate compliance with infection control guidance.

In addition the provider should:

• Ensure all staff are brought up to date with their yearly appraisals.
• Review and if necessary update policies and procedures on a regular basis, and record these review dates.
• Devise a system which allows the practice to have an overview of all staff essential training and the required dates for refresher training.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice