Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at S J Cooper and Partners on 7 April 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 been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Patients said they were treated with care and compassion 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.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a 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 practice patient participation group were engaged with the practice and influencing and improving services for patients.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

One of the GPs had led a project with the clinical commissioning group (CCG), the local health and social care community provider and the local hospital to develop a heart failure pathway and heart failure passport for patients. This had demonstrated a reduction of 24.7% in admissions for heart failure across the local area in 2013 to 2014. The pathway had also evidenced cost savings, a reduction in length of admissions and improved patient satisfaction for these patients. This pathway and passport for heart failure had then been shared across the local CCG area and a neighbouring CCG area.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We reviewed the information available to us about Newbridge Surgery on 29 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.