Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dartmouth Medical Practice on 1 March 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 and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had 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.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and 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.
• 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 one area of outstanding practice:

The practice provided a room free of charge together with electricity, telephone lines and photocopier use to Dartmouth Caring, a charity that provided a support service to the town and rural community including the practice’s patients. This charity, which was based on practice premises and worked closely with the practice, offered luncheon clubs, home visits, befriending, a memory café, counselling, financial advice and help with hospital transport.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Dartmouth Medical Practice is a general practice surgery that provides NHS services and is located in the town centre of Dartmouth. It provides these services to both the town and to nearby villages in the South Hams area. It operates from a single premises located at 35 Victoria Road, Dartmouth TQ6 9RT. The practice comprises of seven Doctors working in partnership. The practice currently has 8120 patients listed.

We talked with 10 patients on the day of our inspection and they were all satisfied with the standard of care, service and treatment they received. We saw 70 comment cards had been completed by patients who used the practice. We noted that 64 of these had been positively completed with patients stating they received a very high level of care from all staff at the practice and felt involved in all aspects of their treatment and care. Six out of 70 patients who submitted written comments expressed frustration with the waiting times for booked routine appointments to see a named Doctor.

We found that the practice engaged with the patient population on a regular basis. The practice had an active patient participation group (PPG) and held an annual public forum. Evidence showed that the practice responded positively to feedback from annual surveys. The practice kept patients informed via their own website and popular social network websites. A practice newsletter was emailed out to all patients who had registered their email address and was also available in paper format at the practice.

The practice promoted team spirit through regular team building events. All staff we spoke with told us they felt supported and well led. Staff said that their opinions and ideas were listened to and taken seriously. Dartmouth Medical Practice is a training practice for trainee doctors and we saw evidence that staff training, involvement and professional development formed a strong part of the overall management of the practice.

The practice opening times are Monday to Friday 830am – 6pm.  A number of pre-bookable appointments are also available on Saturday mornings to accommodate those patients unable to attend during normal hours. Out of hours patients are directed to the external out of hours service.

We found Dartmouth Medical Practice to be a well led practice that was safe, caring, effective and responsive to patients’ needs. The practice showed they had an open, fair and transparent manner with the management team showing clear leadership. The patients, clinical and administrative staff we spoke with all told us they felt the practice was well led, approachable and demonstrated good working relations with other health professionals, organisations and local authorities.