Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr Smith & Partners on 5 February 2015.

The practice achieved an overall rating of Good. This was based on our rating of all of the five domains. Each of the six population groups we looked at achieved the same good rating.

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 recorded, monitored, appropriately reviewed and addressed.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance. Staff had received training appropriate to their roles.
• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• 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.

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

Importantly the provider should:

• Introduce a system that confirms medicine stocks were checked periodically to ensure they were within their expiry date and suitable for use.
• Introduce a system so blank electronic prescription forms are tracked through the practice and kept securely.
• Review the infection control policy so control measures and lead roles are made explicit to practice staff.
• Introduce suitable measures to audit the effectiveness of the infection control policy.
• Ensure any recommended remedial work for ensuring legionella water safety is completed when the risk assessment report and recommendations are received from the external contractor.
• Ensure recruitment arrangements include all necessary employment checks for all staff as specified in Schedule 3 of Health & Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010.
• Provide appropriate information to patients and other users of the practice on how they can make a complaint

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP 

Chief Inspector of General Practice