Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Layton Medical Centre on 26 July 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 in place for reporting and recording significant events.
• Risks to patients were generally assessed and well managed, however, the practice lacked risk assessments relating to some blind pull cords and the storage of adrenalin for emergency use.
• 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.
• The practice assessed service delivery regularly with the use of audit, however, they did not always formally document these audits.
• 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 and had a duty of candour policy in place.

We saw two areas of outstanding practice:

• The practice told us that the overarching approach of the practice was one of integrating health and social care, recognising that the two were closely linked. The practice had identified a need for support for socially isolated patients and had started hosting a monthly coffee morning for those people to meet.
• The practice participated in research which involved about 4% of its patients. This research provided positive outcomes for patients with some chronic diseases and informed the clinical practice of the GPs and clinical staff. The practice had won two recent awards for research.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Carry out risk assessments to identify risks associated with loose pull cords on blinds and the storage of adrenalin for emergency use.
• Document audit activity and formalise the recording of quality improvement work to improve governance arrangements.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice