Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Drs Hiles, Greening, Gorajala & Flowers - St Fillans Medical Centre on 10 November 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 a system in place for reporting and recording significant events. We discussed with the practice the need to review some of the systems and processes that governed risks such as significant events and safeguarding.
• 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 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. 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 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.

We saw areas of outstanding practice:

• The practice had set up a carers group to support carers to receive appropriate support and advice.

• The practice had set up a walkers group to promote a healthy lifestyle and to support patients who may have felt socially isolated.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Review the newly implemented systems to support the practice’s monitoring of significant events analysis and safeguarding.

• Review feedback identified in the national GP patients survey with regard to patients finding difficulty contacting the practice and accessing appointments.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We reviewed the information available to us about Drs Hiles, Greening, Gorajala & Flowers 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.