Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Craven Road Medical Practice on 9 August 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. The practice was proactive in reporting prescribing and medicines alerts on the local incident reporting system. An internal system for reporting, disseminating, acting upon and reviewing learning from all significant events was also in place.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed. The practice had sought input from a specialist health and safety consultancy, which carried out risk assessments and completed all health and safety policies and protocols.
• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. We saw evidence that new clinical and local guidelines were assessed, reviewed and disseminated in an efficient manner, and that necessary changes to practice were implemented quickly. 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 GP, but not necessarily the GP of their choice. Daily walk-in appointments were available with the nurse practitioner at the Craven Road site. Urgent appointments were available the same day and pre-bookable appointments could be made up to four weeks in advance.
• The practice had two sites; Craven Road Medical Centre and Holly Bank Surgery. Both sites had good facilities and were 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 provided evidence of how they had effected change in care pathways for secondary care services, which enhanced the effectiveness of management of patients with long term conditions.These changes meant that patients’ conditions were managed safely and effectively, and in line with up to date clinical and medicines management guidelines.

• The practice provided care for asylum seekers and victims of human trafficking in conjunction with local third sector (charitable) support services. The practice gave examples to evidence where outcomes for this group of patients had been improved by support from the practice. For example by ensuring children received the necessary vaccinations and immunisations in a timely way and supporting patients who had experienced extreme mental and physical trauma to rebuild their lives and begin accessing work or education.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice