Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out a comprehensive inspection of Coniston Medical Practice on 19 May 2015

Overall, we rated the practice as outstanding. Specifically, we found the practice to outstanding for providing caring and responsive services; and good for providing safe, effective and well led services.

Our key findings were as follows:

• Staff knew their patients and the remote and rural area covered by the practice very well, and provided a holistic service which met their needs;
• Feedback from patients was overwhelmingly positive; they told us staff treated them with respect and kindness;
• Patients reported exceptional access to the practice.
• Patients we spoke with told us they felt they had sufficient time during their appointment;
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance;
• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses. Information about safety was recorded, monitored, reviewed and addressed;
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by the management team. The practice actively sought feedback from patients;
• The practice was clean and hygienic, and good infection control arrangements were in place.

We saw several areas of outstanding practice including:

• The surgery was embedded in and was an essential part of the local community. Staff regularly liaised with the local primary and secondary schools and were first on call for any health concerns. This helped to avoid unnecessary ambulance call outs and A&E attendances.
• Arrangements had been made to carry out joint home visits with district nurses and carers. This provided patients with a more co-ordinated care service.
• Both of the GPs lived above the practice and often treated people outside of normal opening hours, this prevented many patients from having to travel to access hospital services, which were a considerable distance away.
• The practice offered a range of compassionate services to address social isolation amongst its patient population.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP 

Chief Inspector of General Practice