Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr LM Wright and Partners on 24 February 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 effective systems for reporting and recording significant events. However, whilst near misses in the dispensary were discussed they were not always recorded.
• 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.
• Feedback from patients about their care was consistently and strongly positive.
• 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. Urgent appointments were available on the same day and patients had access to daily morning walk in clinics.
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff we spoke with told us they felt supported by management. The practice 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 nursing team regularly visited and telephoned patients in local care homes to monitor their health and wellbeing and ensure that care plans reflected individual needs. These patients and their carers had direct access to the nursing team for support. This initiative had helped reduce unplanned admissions to secondary care for patients over 75 years from 44 in 2013/14 to 33 in 2014/15.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Review how near misses are recorded in the dispensary to reduce the risk of errors in the future.
• Review Standard Operating Procedures in the dispensary to ensure that recorded dates reflect review dates.
• Review patient confidentiality in the waiting room.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We reviewed the information available to us about Dr LM Wright and Partners on 15 June 2019. We did not find evidence of significant changes to the quality of service being provided since the last inspection. As a result, we decided not to inspect the surgery at this time. We will continue to monitor this information about this service throughout the year and may inspect the surgery when we see evidence of potential changes.