Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Chapelthorpe Medical Centre on 21 June 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 been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• 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. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and 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, which it acted on.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

We saw areas of outstanding practice:

• The practice offered online services such as online bookings and prescription ordering. It had recently begun to offer “AskmyGP”, a portal which allowed the patient to contact the practice online outlining their condition. Patients then received contact from the practice such as signposting advice or a request that they come into the surgery for an appointment.

• The practice operated a diabetic clinic delivered in conjunction with a local secondary care provider. The practice also offered specialist care management and enhanced services such as insulin initiation in-house.

There where two areas where the provider should make improvements:

• The practice needed to ensure that all actions identified as a result of a significant event report had been completed and that this had been recorded, and that lessons learned from such events were shared with all relevant staff.

• The practice needed to ensure that appropriate action was taken by staff following patient safety and other alerts.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Chapelthorpe is a purpose built GP surgery. The practice operates a weekday service for over 11800 patients in the Wakefield area. The practice is responsible for providing primary care, and is registered to provide the regulated activities; diagnostic and screening procedures, family planning, maternity and midwifery services, surgical procedures and treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

The practice is open Monday – Friday 8:00 am to 6:30 pm. They also have extended hours until 8:30 pm on a Monday and Wednesday.

Patients can access nursing services for minor ailments outside the above hours at Wakefield Walk in Centre. Out of hours GP services are provided by Local Care Direct by calling 111.

A range of appointments are available, including telephone consultations and people are able to book these in person, over the phone or on-line.

The practice listens to patient comments and takes action to improve their service. The patients we spoke with and who completed CQC comment cards were complimentary about the care and treatment being provided. Patients reported that all the staff treated them with dignity and respect.

The building is well-maintained, clean and tidy. However there are some areas of infection control practice which require improvement.

Effective systems are in place for the oversight of medication. Clinical decisions are considered in line with best practice guidelines.

There are good governance and risk management measures in place.

We also looked at how well services are provided for specific groups of people and what good care looks like for them. We found that the practice actively monitors patients. We saw that they make arrangements for older patients and patients who have long term health conditions to be regularly reviewed and to attend the practice for routine checks. We found that appointments provide flexibility for patients who are working. Specific arrangements are in place to meet the needs of vulnerable patients, such as provision of a translation service.