Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Hugglescote Surgery on 17 January 2017. 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 within the practice. Effective systems were in place to report, record and learn from significant events. Learning was shared with staff and external stakeholders where appropriate.

• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed. Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance.

• Training was provided for staff which equipped them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.

• There was evidence of a highly engaged and proactive patient participation group (PPG) who participated in a number of initiatives to enrich the lives of patients. They engaged with the practice to host a number of health promotion initiatives which included evening talks for patients with long term conditions.

• Patients were valued as individuals and empowered as partners in their care. They told us they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.

• The practice demonstrated a responsive approach by taking account of the needs of their local population, and not just their registered patients. This enabled services to be delivered closer to patient’s homes.

• National patient survey results showed 93% of patients said the last appointment they got was convenient.

• 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 and learning from complaints was shared with staff and stakeholders.

• The leadership, governance and culture were used to drive and improve the delivery of high quality person centred care.

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

We saw some outstanding features:

• The practice was responsive to the needs of vulnerable people, and delivered interventions or redesigned operating procedures to actively meet these needs. This included the provision of a community transport service at a reduced cost compared to local taxi rates. Practice supplied data showed 44 patients had used the service between April 2015 and December 2016.

• The practice took a flexible approach in accommodating traveller families, resulting in overall increased uptake of childhood immunisations. For example, overall immunisation rates for two year olds increased from 90% in December 2010 to 100% achievement in the same quarter in 2016.

We found an area where the practice should make improvements:

• Continue to take steps to improve annual reviews of patients with learning disabilities.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice