Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Marsh House Medical Centre on 21January 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 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 a named GP and that 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. This means providers must be open and transparent with service users about their care and treatment, including when it goes wrong.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

• The GP partners held a personal patient list, which meant the GPs always saw their own patients. The exception would be such things as when a GP was on annual leave. When the GP was not available another GPs provided buddy cover. This meant patients were seen by their named GPs even when requesting an emergency appointment. This enabled good relationships to be built between the patient, and the named GP.

However the area of practice where the provider should make improvement are:

• Review the process for checking the collection of patient’s prescriptions.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice