Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Rutland Lodge Medical Practice on 23 March 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 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. 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 named 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.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are: 

• Continue to review access to appointments and ways to improve patient experience.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We spoke with four patients who provided us with very positive feedback about the service and staff at Rutland Lodge Medical Practice. Patients told us that they felt their health needs had been met by a very welcoming and friendly team who were competent to do their jobs.

Patient's needs were assessed and care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with their individual wishes. One patient told us, "They are always pleasant. If I want to know anything I ask and they tell me."

All staff had received training in protection of vulnerable adults and children. The training records we viewed confirmed all staff had received safeguarding training. All of the staff we spoke with reported good access to training opportunities.

The provider had carried out monitoring of chronic conditions, how the practice was organised, how patients viewed their experiences and the extra services provided. This monitoring is required as part of Quality Outcomes Framework (QOF). This is an annual award and incentive programme that details the achievement results. The provider told us they were meeting most of the targets and we saw evidence of this.

We reviewed the information available to us about Rutland Lodge Medical Practice on 11 June 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.