At this inspection we found:

• The practice had clear systems, processes and practices in place to protect people from abuse. Staff were aware of how to raise a safeguarding concern and had access to internal leads.

• The practice had 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.

• The practice had improved its telephone access so that patients found the appointment system easy to use.

• The practice had suitable facilities and was well equipped and maintained to treat patients and meet their needs.

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

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Develop an effective system to record, monitor and track prescription stationery.

• Continue to review the uptake for cervical screening.

• Review systems to ensure that staff remain up to date with training considered essential by the practice.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We inspected this service on 31 October 2014 as part of our new comprehensive inspection programme.

The overall rating for this service is good. We found the practice to be good in the safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led domains. We found the practice provided good care to older people, people with long term conditions, families, children and young people, the working age population and those recently retired, people in vulnerable circumstances and people experiencing poor mental health.

Our key findings were as follows:

• Patients were kept safe because there were arrangements in place for staff to report and learn from incidents that occurred. The practice had a system for reporting, recording and monitoring significant events over time.

• There were systems in place to keep patients safe from the risk and spread of infection.

• Evidence we reviewed demonstrated that patients were satisfied with how they were treated and that this was with compassion, dignity and respect. It also demonstrated that the GPs were good at listening to patients and gave them enough time.

• The practice had an open culture that was effective and encouraged staff to share their views through staff meetings and significant event meetings.

We saw an area of outstanding practice:

• The practice had engaged with the expert patients’ programme which aimed to educate patients who were living with a long-term health condition to take more control over their health. This was to be achieved through patients understanding and managing their conditions, which would help them lead an improved quality of life. Becoming an expert patient was seen as empowering for people with chronic conditions.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice