We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Haven Surgery (Dr Rina Miah) on 27 March 2019 as part of our inspection programme (previous inspection November 2015 – good).

We based our judgement of the quality of care at this service on a combination of:

• what we found when we inspected
• information from our ongoing monitoring of data about services and
• information from the provider, patients, the public and other organisations.

We have rated this practice as good overall, but as requires improvement for providing safe services and good for all population groups.

We rated the practice as requires improvement for providing safe services because:

• There were shortfalls in some systems; management of the premises and staff immunisation.

We rated the practice as good for providing effective, caring, responsive and well led services because:

• Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
• Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
• The practice organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
• The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.

Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:

• Review arrangements for ensuring that staff have received the relevant vaccinations.
• Undertake remedial work following the recent fire risk assessment.
• Review arrangements for ensuring the premises are secure at all times.
• Implement a system to enable the monitoring of the distribution of blank prescriptions throughout the practice.
• Provide appropriate clinical waste disposal bins.
• Take steps to improve access to the premises. The external door did not open automatically and there were no facilities for patients who needed assistance to summon support.
• Take steps to ensure all staff who perform cervical screening checks have received appropriate training.

Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Haven Surgery on 3 November 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses. Information about safety was recorded, monitored, appropriately reviewed and addressed.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance. Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and any further training needs had been identified and planned.
• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment although not always with their choice of GP. There were urgent appointments available the same day and routine appointments available the next day for GPs and Nurses.
• 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.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
• The practice worked closely with other organisations and with the local community in planning how services were provided to ensure that they met patient’s needs.

We saw some areas of outstanding practice:

• The practice had established an active social media page and a leaflet specifically for younger patients. The practice was proactive in offering services closer to home for their patients and provided the additional services such as acupuncture and minor injuries treatment. The practice ran a coffee morning to encourage uptake of flu vaccinations, and also to fundraise for the local community centre and hospice. The practice had good community links and engagement, for example:

• A quarterly publication in the ‘Burnhope Wheel’ which was a newsletter circulated to all households in the practice area.

• Liaison with the local school where the GP had given talks to young people about healthy living, diet, exercise and oral care. The practice had run a competition with the school children to increase their awareness of the importance of diet and exercise and also to engage with the parents of the children and encourage them to join the Patient Participation Group (PPG).

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice