Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Wombwell PMS Practice on 15 February 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.

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

• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.

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

• Patients told us they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect, they were involved in all aspects of their care and decisions about their treatment.

• Patients told us they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP, had access to urgent appointments available on the same dayand there was continuity of care.
• 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, which it acted on.
• The registered provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour.

We saw three areas of outstanding practice:

The practice continuously and actively sought feedback from patients, because of this the practice had set up their own carers group to support the families and carers of people living with dementia after patients told them there was little support available locally.

The nurses worked closely with the learning disability team. They used a video to show female patients with learning disabilities to understand cytology screening.

A homeless patient had declined offers of accommodation from other agencies. The practice staff worked together to equip this patient with a tent, warm clothes and a sleeping bag to keep them warm until they could be encouraged to consider accommodation. Patients told us of other occasions where homeless patients were supported within the community by the practice staff.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

To consistently apply recruitment procedures for all staff, including seeking written references. 

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We reviewed the information available to us about Chapelfield Medical Centre on 24 May 2019. We did not find evidence of significant changes to the quality of service being provided since the last inspection. As a result, we decided not to inspect the surgery at this time. We will continue to monitor this information about this service throughout the year and may inspect the surgery when we see evidence of potential changes.