Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Hamstreet Surgery on 21 September 2016. Overall the practice is rated as outstanding.

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 for reporting and recording significant events.

• 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.

• The practice used innovative and proactive methods to improve patient outcomes, working with other local providers to share best practice. There was a very wide range of services, both clinical and non-clinical. The practice was a multi-speciality community provider with an ethos to bring services to the patient rather than sending patients to the service.

• The practice was part of a vanguard site combining with other providers to deliver services across a substantial area of East Kent.

• 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 practice had strong and visible clinical and managerial leadership and governance arrangements.

• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

We saw areas of outstanding practice:

• The practice offered a community ‘virtual’ ward which met once a fortnight. Team members included GPs, an elderly care consultant, social care staff, community nurses and representatives from the voluntary sector. The aim of the virtual ward was to help to ensure that patients’ emotional and social needs were met and given equal importance.

• The practice provided access to services seven days a week through collaboration with two neighbouring surgeries. This service provided access to urgent appointments at the weekend from 9am to 12pm on Saturday at The Ivy Court Surgery (Tenterden) and Sunday at The Hamstreet Surgery for over 25,000 patients.

• The practice had recognised the needs of its local, rural community and the difficulty in collection of prescriptions and had organised a secure collection point in two local villages located more than five miles (8km) from the practice.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We reviewed the information available to us about Hamstreet Surgery on 11 May 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.