Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr C Wilcock and Partners on 20 November 2015. 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.
• Data showed patient outcomes were at or above the local averages.
• 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 some areas of outstanding practice:

• The practice recorded and responded to issues patients experienced with other health services. They recorded when other health professionals did not attend booked home visits for their patients. They also reviewed all discharge letters and when these were not completed in full or included incorrect details, they requested the required details from the service and referred their concerns to the CCG to be addressed. These were reviewed as significant events within the practice to ensure patients received appropriate care and treatment.

• The practice had a long history of providing services to vulnerable patients in the population and demonstrated changes they had made to services to meet the needs of different vulnerable people. For example they provided longer appointments for patients who were refugees and those who required interpreters when they did not have English as their first language. They had systems to sign post refugees to local support services for information and advice. The practice had provided services to local units providing shelter to women and children fleeing domestic violence. The practice was currently providing GP services to a unit providing accommodation to offenders who had just been released from prison.

• The practice achieved Investors in People in Champion in 1998 and Champion Status which in 2005 and went on to mentor and support 10 other practices in the Investors in People journey to achieve this for themselves.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Update emergency medicines to ensure they were able to deal with a range of medical emergencies.

• Advertise the complaints procedure for patients and display information advising patients that nurses would act as chaperones if required.

Please note that when referring to information throughout this report, for example any reference to the Quality and Outcomes Framework data, this relates to the most recent information available to the CQC at that time.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP 

Chief Inspector of General Practice