Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 17 February 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 the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect 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.
• 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 provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour.
• Patients said they were generally able to make an appointment. However, some were encountering problems accessing the service by telephone early in the morning.
• The practice shares the premises with a walk-in service, which operates throughout the day, and some patients seemed confused over which service they were using.
• There was an active patient participation group, but some ethnic minority groups were under-represented.

The areas where the practice should make improvement are -

• Continue to monitor the appointments process and telephone system to identify where improvements may be made.
• Provide patients with more information regarding the services available at the premises and who provides them.
• Consolidate the practice’s governance policies and store them on the shared computer system as appropriate to ensure staff have easy access to them.
• Continue with efforts to increase the numbers of ethnic minority patients involved with the patient participation group.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP 

Chief Inspector of General Practice