Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Much Birch Surgery on 8 November 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Our key findings across all of 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 recorded, monitored and reviewed and the results shared with staff including lessons learned.

• Safe arrangements were in place for staff recruitment that protected patients from risks of harm. Staff numbers were regularly reviewed to enable them to meet patients’ needs and plans were in place to increase clinical sessions.

• There were robust on-going arrangements in place to protect patients and others from unnecessary infections.

• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance. Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and any further training had been encouraged and planned to enhance their skills.

• Patients told us they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in decisions about their treatment.

• A good neighbour scheme was provided by volunteers who provided transport for patients who found it difficult to access the practice and other social services such as; delivering food.

• Information about how to make a complaint was readily available and easy to understand. Complaints received were dealt with appropriately and clear explanations given to complainants.

• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to assess and treat patients.

• There was a clear and open culture and staff told us they felt well supported by senior staff. Management sought feedback from patients which it acted on.

• The provider was aware of the requirements of the Duty of Candour and we saw where this had been applied concerning a complaint.

We saw an area of outstanding practice:

There had been 26 significant events recorded from April 2015 until March 2016 and we saw that they had been dealt with appropriately. These were reviewed regularly during team meetings and quarterly during full staff meetings to identify trends and ensure that no further actions were necessary. All significant events were forwarded to the National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS). This is a means of sharing lessons learned from safety incidents.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice