Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out this comprehensive inspection on 19 January 2016.

Overall, we rated this practice as good.

Our key findings were as follows:

• The practice provided a good standard of care, led by current best practice guidelines. A programme of clinical audit was used to identify where patient outcomes could be improved.
• Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and any further training needs had been identified and planned.
• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents, although there was some confusion around recording procedures at times. Information about safety was monitored, appropriately reviewed and addressed.
• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment. Information was provided to help patients understand the care available to them.
• The practice was proactive in the promotion of good health and management of long term conditions. Staff communicated within multi-disciplinary teams to manage complex conditions.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. Staff felt confident in their roles and responsibilities.

However, there were also areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.

The provider should:

• Ensure that formal governance arrangements are sufficient to fully assess and monitor risks and the quality of the service provision. The practice had some risk assessments in place to monitor safety of the premises, but not all risks had been identified, monitored or reviewed.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We reviewed the information available to us about New Seaham Medical Group 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.