Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Collingwood Surgery on 17 November 2016. Overall the practice is rated as outstanding.

Our key findings were as follows:

• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered in line with current legislation.
• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses.
• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• Patients said they were able to get an appointment with a GP when they needed one, with urgent appointments available the same day. Results from the National GP Patient Survey, published in July 2016, showed that patients’ satisfaction with how they could access care and treatment was much higher than local and national averages
• The practice had a long track record of training new GPs. Feedback from trainees was very positive. The practice scored highly in the General Medical Council (GMC)’s national training scheme survey for 2015.
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
• There was a clear leadership structure in place and staff felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which they acted on.
• There was strong collaboration and support across all staff groups.

We saw several areas of outstanding practice including:

• The practice had developed end of life care arrangements over many years and promoted the use of the palliative care register with clinicians. The practice was one of four nationally to take part in a MacMillan project to link patients on the palliative care register with a MacMillan social worker. This project had subsequently been rolled out to all practices within the CCG.
• The practice had responded to the needs of its patients experiencing poor mental health and there were effective arrangements to provide care and support for those patients. The practice funded 50% of a mental health worker who worked full time within the surgeries; this ensured that 95% of patients with mental health problems were seen within the practice, rather than in secondary care.
• The practice team was forward thinking and part of local and national pilot schemes to improve outcomes for patients. For example, the practice took part in the first phase of the national Health Foundation’s MAGIC programme ( ‘making good decisions in collaboration’), which looked at how to embed best practice in shared decision making.

The area where the provider should make improvements is:

• Take steps to monitor and record the minimum and maximum temperatures for the refrigerators at the New York surgery.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP 

Chief Inspector of General Practice