Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Corner Place Surgery on Wednesday 3 June 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Specifically, we found the practice to be good for providing safe, well-led, effective, caring and responsive services. It was also good for providing services for all of the population groups, with the exception of older people, which we found to be an outstanding service..

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

• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses. Information about safety was recorded, monitored, appropriately reviewed and addressed.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• There were effective staff recruitment, induction and training processes in place. Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and any further training needs had been identified and planned.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance.
• Feedback from patients was consistently good. 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 health promotion was managed well.
• Patients knew how to complain and information was available and easy to understand.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a GP and said that 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, although the minor surgery room needed to be decluttered to reduce the spread of infection.
• There was a sense of team work amongst staff with opportunities for peer support and interaction. Communication was good and there was a clear leadership structure. Staff felt supported by management and the GPs. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.

We considered that the care of older people was outstanding. This can be demonstrated by:

The practice had been instrumental in setting up a care homes forum which had been welcomed by care home registered managers in the locality. The forum provided training for staff in matters such as end of life care and the management of challenging patients.

The GPs and staff had an effective multi disciplinary/voluntary sector approach which included introducing services which had an impact for patients. For example, providing transport services, introducing services to reduce isolation and working with other service providers.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We spoke with eight patients who were pleased with the service they received and all said they had been involved in the decisions made about their care. One patient said "I like that I see the same doctor all the time. It means we have been through this together and have come up with a plan that seems to be working." Another patient said "They have managed my condition very well and I have no complaints."

Patients said they could get an appointment when they needed and said staff treated them with respect and dignity. One patient said “He knows me and treats me with such kindness.”

All staff knew the correct local safeguarding procedures to follow if abuse was suspected and all had attended training.

Patients told us that they always felt safe in the care of the staff. There were appropriate arrangements in place which ensured that staff kept their knowledge and skills up to date. Staff spoke about the supportive environment and confirmed that they had access to adequate training.

The practice was organised and well led. There were effective systems in place to monitor the quality of the service provided and patients felt able to give feedback about the service they received.