Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Hillview Healthcare on 3 December 2015. Following our comprehensive inspection the practice was rated as overall good with requires improvement for the effective domain. Following the inspection we issued a requirement notice. The notice was issued due to a breach of Regulation 17 of The Health and Social Care Act (Regulated Activity) Regulations 2014, Good governance.

The issue was:

• Regulation 17, the provider did not have a system in place for undertaking clinical audits which would demonstrate the quality of the service provision

A copy of the report detailing our findings can be found at www.cqc.org.uk.

We carried out an announced focused inspection at Hillview Family Practice on 4 October 2016 to follow up the requirement notice in order to assess if the practice had implemented the changes needed to ensure patients who used the service were cared for by an effective service.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected during this inspection were as follows:

• The provider had implemented a system for undertaking clinical audits and had demonstrated that they had used the information to check, and where necessary improve the quality of the service.

Following this inspection the practice was rated overall as good and good across all domains.

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 Hillview Family Practice

on 3 December 2015. 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 an effective system in place 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 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.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment 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 one area of outstanding practice:

• The practice worked collaboratively with three other GP practices in the area to fund a patient champion to liaise with patients for feedback, undertake health promotion and inform patients about local services.

The area where the provider must make improvement is:

• The practice must implement a system of clinical audits which would demonstrate quality improvement.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• The provider should define the lines of accountability within the practice for the shared services and ensure all areas of the practice are included in the infection control audit such as the consultation rooms.
• The provider should produce a written protocol for management of medicines which are used in the practice.
• The practice should record the use of chaperones on the patient record as per their chaperone policy and update the chaperone training.
• Written consent should be obtained for any minor surgical procedures including the insertion of coils and implants.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice