Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr. Bowes, Gillam, Roome, Stone, Welch & Roome on 14 December 2016. 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 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.
• 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.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

• The practice was providing a service to a local women’s refuge, enabling these women and their children to receive treatment as permanent residents, rather than being registered as temporary residents. This allowed the practice to obtain past GP records which were summarised as a priority. Children’s Immunisation records were checked and any outstanding vaccines administered whilst at the refuge. The permanent resident status also allowed patients to be part of the routine immunisation recall system. The registration process had been adapted for these patients, recognising that some may have fled their homes and had therefore been unable to produce the necessary form of identification.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Ensure the staff training programme is completed.

• Complete the practice’s business development plan.

• The practice’s system of recalling patients who had not attended to discuss blood test results and follow-up’s from secondary care specialist referrals were not always being processed consistently and the system should therefore be reviewed.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGPChief Inspector of General Practice