Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr Robert Mathewson, also known as ‘High Lane Medical Centre’ on 12 October 2016. 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 report incidents and near misses.
• Significant events had been investigated and action had been taken as a result of the learning from events.
• Systems were in place to deal with medical emergencies and staff were trained in basic life support.
• There were systems in place to reduce risks to patient safety. For example, infection control practices were good and there were regular checks on the environment and on equipment used.
• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance.
• Data showed that outcomes for patients at this practice were similar to outcomes for patients locally and nationally.

• Feedback from patients about the care and treatment they received was very positive. Patients said they were treated with dignity and respect and they were involved in decisions about their care and treatment.

• Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Staff felt well supported in their roles and had undergone a regular appraisal of the work.
• The practice had good facilities, including disabled access. It was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• Information about services and how to complain was available. Complaints had been investigated and responded to in a timely manner.
• The practice had a clear vision to provide a safe and high quality service.
• There was a clear leadership and staff structure and staff understood their roles and responsibilities.
• The practice provided a range of enhanced services to meet the needs of the local population.

Area of outstanding practice:

• The practice provided a well managed and responsive appointments system which resulted in very high levels of patient satisfaction.

Areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Introduce a record to demonstrate the actions taken for all safety alerts.

• Ensure all staff are provided with the appropriate level of safeguarding training.

• Carry out a risk assessment with regards to the practice not having a defibrillator available on site.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice