Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out a planned comprehensive inspection of Castlehead Medical Centre on 11 November 2014.

Overall, we rated the practice as good. Our key findings were as follows:

• The practice covered a large geographical and rural area; services had been designed to meet the needs of the local population.
• We saw that the practice had made improvements which addressed the concerns we raised, at our inspection in May 2014, about the management of medicines.
• Feedback from patients was positive; they told us staff treated them with respect and kindness.
• Staff reported feeling supported and able to voice any concerns or make suggestions for improvement.
• The practice manager regularly monitored the cleanliness of the premises. Actions highlighted in infection control audits were addressed.
• The practice learned from incidents and took action to prevent a recurrence.

We saw the following areas of outstanding practice:

• The practice supported their GPs in their emergency work with the Great North Air Ambulance Service, the local mountain rescue team and the paramedic pathfinder initiative run by the North West Ambulance Service, to provide care to their own patients, patients of other practices in the area and visitors.
• The practice was able to meet patients’ needs in their own home environment or close to home, such as using effective referral processes to treat them at the local cottage hospital wherever possible, which reduced admissions to major hospitals some distance away.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection November 2014 – Good)

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? - Good

As part of our inspection process, we also look at the quality of care for specific population groups. The population groups are rated as:

Older People – Good

People with long-term conditions – Good

Families, children and young people – Good

Working age people (including those recently retired and students – Good

People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable – Good

People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia) - Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Castlehead Medical Practice on 15 December 2017 as part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

• The practice had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes.

• The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.

• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.

• Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.

• The practice worked closely with other healthcare professionals in the area to offer a range of services to patients, such as a falls clinic and a minor injuries clinic.

• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.

• On the day of inspection we saw some staff at the practice had not completed some annual mandatory training in the past 12 months. Some staff had also not received training at a level appropriate to their role. However, we were sent evidence by the practice to show that this had been rectified shortly after the inspection.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Continue to carry out annual fire drills at regular intervals

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice