Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

This practice is rated as Good overall.

We last inspected the service in January 2015, when it was rated as good overall.

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? - Good

As part of our inspection process, we also look at the quality of care for specific population groups. The population groups are rated as:

Older People – Good

People with long-term conditions – Good

Families, children and young people – Good

Working age people (including those recently retired and students – Good

People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable – Good

People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia) - Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Longrigg Medical Centre on 29 November 2017, as part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

• The practice had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes. Staff described an open and honest ‘no blame’ culture so they felt confident in raising incidents.

• The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.

• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect, and patient feedback was in the most part positive.

• Patients reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.

• Information about the services provided, as well as how to raise any concerns or complaints, was accessible and easy to understand

• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation. Staff were supported in their professional development.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

• Taking the lead with other locality practices and a local community charity, the practice had successfully received extra CCG funding and arranged the employment of a Community Link Worker, who was seconded to the practice. Patients could receive help to access services and activities such as counselling, advocacy and debt advice. The practice had made 158 referrals over a 12 month period.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Make shared policies and procedures, including safeguarding, and disciplinary and grievance procedures, easier for staff to access.

• Carry out yearly fire drills in accordance with the practice risk assessment.

• Carry out a risk assessment to determine the impact of not keeping paediatric defibrillator pads on the premises.

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 Longrigg Medical Centre on 13 January 2015. Overall, the practice is rated as good. Specifically, we found the practice to be good for providing safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led services. It was also good for providing services for the six key population groups.

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

• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses. Information about safety was appropriately recorded, monitored, reviewed and addressed;
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed;
• The practice was clean and hygienic, and good infection control arrangements were in place;
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance;
• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and that they were involved in decisions about their care and treatment;
• Information about the services provided, as well as how to raise any concerns or complaints, was accessible and easy to understand;
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment and urgent same-day access was also available;
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs;
• There was a clear leadership structure and good governance arrangements were in place.

We saw an area of outstanding practice:

• The practice had achieved accreditation as a ‘research-ready’ practice. This meant the practice had had to comply with higher standards of performance in relation to, for example, how patient information is handled and patient confidentiality is protected.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We reviewed the information available to us about Longrigg Medical Centre on 8 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.