Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Fairfax Group Practice on 8 March 2016. The overall rating for the practice was requires improvement. The practice had not ensured Disclosing and Barring Scheme checks were carried out for staff who act as chaperones and staff were not provided with an appraisal of their work. Information about patients was not stored securely and prescriptions were not well managed. Within an agreed timescales the practice submitted an action plan which demonstrated they are now meeting the requirement notices from this inspection. The full comprehensive report on the 8 March 2016 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Fairfax Group Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

We carried out this announced comprehensive inspection at Fairfax Group Practice on 17 January 2017. Overall the practice is now 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 an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events, although they were not reviewed annually to identify any themes.

• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.

• 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 with a named GP 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.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• The safeguarding policy needs to be updated to reflect current guidance.
• Staff should ensure READ coding is completed accurately.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Fairfax Group Practice on 8 March 2016. The overall rating for the practice was requires improvement. The practice had not ensured Disclosing and Barring Scheme checks were carried out for staff who act as chaperones and staff were not provided with an appraisal of their work. Information about patients was not stored securely and prescriptions were not well managed. Within an agreed timescales the practice submitted an action plan which demonstrated they are now meeting the requirement notices from this inspection. The full comprehensive report on the 8 March 2016 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Fairfax Group Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

We carried out this announced comprehensive inspection at Fairfax Group Practice on 17 January 2017. Overall the practice is now 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 an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events, although they were not reviewed annually to identify any themes.

• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.

• 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 with a named GP 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.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• The safeguarding policy needs to be updated to reflect current guidance.
• Staff should ensure READ coding is completed accurately.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We saw that patients could book appointments up to a week in advance. Patients who requested an ‘on the day’ appointment had an initial telephone appointment and were given a consultation appointment if required. Drugs and equipment for use in a medical emergency were available and ready for use. All staff had received training in basic life support.

All areas of the practice appeared visibly clean. Informal checks were carried out daily to make sure cleaning was to the required standard. An in-depth infection control audit had also been carried out.

The practice followed a recruitment process when all new staff were recruited. All appropriate checks had been carried out prior to a staff member starting work.

The practice carried out patient surveys and quality audits. We saw that where improvements could be made action plans were put in place.

The patients we spoke with told us they sometimes had difficulty accessing appointments at times that were convenient to them. Most of their other comments were positive. These included “If it’s an emergency they’ll always see you”, “Absolutely smashing” and “I love these doctors”.