Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Rangeways Surgery on 12 November 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

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

• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses. Information about safety was recorded, monitored, reviewed and addressed.

• Staff we spoke with said they felt valued, supported and that they felt involved in the practices plans. The practice had supported staff members through a variety of training courses. We noticed how members of the practice team were mostly long term members of staff who had been supported and promoted to take on higher roles by the management team.

• There were effective arrangements in place to identify, review and monitor patients with long term conditions. Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance

• The practice was responsive to the needs of its patient population. There were services aimed at specific patient groups.

• The practice had good facilities and was equipped to treat patients and meet their needs. While we observed the premises to be visibly clean and tidy, we found that the practice did not routinely keep records to evidence that the required cleaning of specific medical equipment had taken place.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Ensure that the management of infection control is robust and reflects national guidance, including adequate record keeping to support the management of infection control.
• Ensure fridge temperatures are recorded consistently, in line with national guidance, to ensure robust maintenance of the cold chain.
•  Assess and manage risks associated with legionella.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice