Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr F Balaratnam (Gillmans Road Surgery) on 10 May 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 been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.

• Patients we spoke to said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment. However results from the GP patient survey published in January 2016 were below the CCG and national average for its satisfaction scores on consultations with GPs.
• 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 named GP and 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.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• The provider should review arrangements for patients to access a female GP.

• The provider should ensure oxygen masks are available for children.

• The provider should review their incident reporting procedure to ensure all incidents, including those identified through complaints, are recorded and processed following the incident reporting procedure.

• The provider should take action to address the issues identified by the below average patient satisfaction scores of the GP patient survey.

• The provider should review how patients with caring responsibilities are identified and recorded on the clinical system to ensure information, advice and support is made available to them.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP 

Chief Inspector of General Practice