Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Forum Family Practice on 23 February 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. Lessons were learned when incidents and near misses occurred.

• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.

• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had 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.

• Staff were highly motivated and inspired to offer care that was kind and promoted peoples dignity. Patient's individual preferences and needs were always reflected in how care was delivered.

• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.

• Patients said they were able to get an appointment with a GP when they needed one.

• Extended hours appointments with a GP were available each Saturday morning from 8:30am to 11:30am.

• Urgent appointments were available on the day they were requested.

• The uptake of the online services provided by the practice was high, one third of patients were registered to access the online services.

• 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 one area of outstanding practice:

• Feedback from people who use the service and those close to them was continually positive about the way staff treat people. Patients rated the practice higher than others for almost all aspects of care according to the latest National GP Patient Survey results. For example, 97% of respondents said they would recommend this surgery to someone new to the area (CCG average 81%, national average 78%). In addition, 95% of respondents said the last GP they saw or spoke to was good at involving then in decisions about their care (CCG average 86%, national average 82%).

  T

  he practice had identified 262 of their patients as being a carer (4.3% of the practice patient population).

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice