Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Drs Mitchell and Ahmed, also referred to as Ballards Walk Surgery on 9 December 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 with all staff undergoing security checks.
• The practice was clean and tidy. Staff had received training on infection prevention control and annual infection control risk assessments had been conducted. Where actions had been identified, they had been addressed and appropriately resolved.
• 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.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
• Patients told us they sometimes experienced difficulties making an appointment. This was acknowledged by the practice who had commissioned a new call management system to improve patient experiences. Urgent appointments were available the same day.
• The practice was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported and valued by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.

However there were areas of practice where the provider should make improvements:

• The practice should formalise a business plan.

Professor Steve Field

CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice