This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection April 2015 – Good)

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? – Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr Alan Dow on 6 June 2018 as part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

• The practice had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes.
• The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it. We noted the practice was consistently higher in the GP national survey than others in the clinical commissioning group (CCG) and England. In 2017 they were in the top 20 Greater Manchester practices (15th out of 500 practices). For example:

  • The percentage of respondents who stated that the last time they wanted to see or speak to a GP or nurse they were able to get an appointment, was higher than average.
  • The percentage of patient who responded positively to the overall experience of making an appointment was significantly higher than average.

• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

The practice of Dr Alan Dow was inspected on 9 April 2015. This was a comprehensive inspection. This means we reviewed the provider in relation to the five key questions leading to a rating on each on a four point rating scale. Overall we rated the practice as good and specifically in respect of being safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

Our key findings were as follows:

The practice has a system in place for reporting, recording and monitoring significant events. Significant incidents and events are used as an opportunity for learning and improving the safety of patients, staff and other visitors to the practice.

The practice has systems in place to ensure best practice is followed. This is to ensure that people’s care, treatment and support achieves good outcomes and is based on the best available evidence.

Information we received from patients reflected that practice staff interact with them in a positive and empathetic way. They told us that they were treated with respect, in a polite manner and as an individual.

Patients spoke positively in respect of accessing services at the practice. A system is in place for patients who require urgent appointments to be seen the same day.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We spoke with seven patients during our inspection. All but one of the patients we spoke with told us they were listened to and felt their care was personalised and met their needs. Patients told us, “They’ve been sound with me, they listen and give you choices” and, “He (the GP) goes over what we’ve done before and updates me.”

We found that care and treatment was planned and delivered in a way that met patients’ needs and protected their rights. Patients were able to be involved in decisions about their treatment and they told us that they were always able to get an appointment. We found that patients were protected from the risk of abuse because the provider had taken steps to identity the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening

Staff received appropriate professional development including appraisals and training. Staff we spoke with told us that they felt well supported by the management team at the practice.

We found that the practice carried out a range of audits on a regular basis to monitor the quality of the service and to learn from any mistakes made. There was no Patient Participation Group (PPG) in place but the Practice Manager was in the process of gathering a group of patients together who wished to be involved. Patient’s surveys were completed regularly and showed that patients were generally very happy with the service they received.