Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at School House Surgery on 27 July 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

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 and any further training needs had been identified and planned.

• 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.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and that 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 was involved in working closely with the clinical commissioning group and other practices in the area about the development of services and how best to meet the needs of the local population.

There was one area of practice where the provider should make improvements:

• Ensure the continuation of the patient participation group and establish the group on a firm footing.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

School House Surgery is a small practice set in a residential street. The practice is located at Hertford Road, Brighton, BN1 7GF. The practice provides a range of services for patients, which include clinics to manage long term conditions, family planning and child health. The practice has a branch called Church Surgery, we did not visit this premises during this inspection.

We spoke with the lead GP, the practice manager who is also the registered manager and seven patients who use the service. We also received feedback from 19 patients in response to our comment cards left at the practice. On the day of our inspection neither of the two nurses who work at the practice were available due to training and holiday commitments. However, we spoke to them on the telephone following the inspection.

Patients we spoke with gave positive feedback about the practice and staff. We reviewed the results of the last patient survey. This told us that patients were satisfied with the service they received. The practice manager told us they had developed an action plan for areas that required further improvement. We noted that this was also available on the practice website.

The practice was actively involved with the clinical commissioning group (CCG). A clinical commissioning group is an NHS organisation that brings together local GPs and experienced health professionals to take on commissioning responsibilities for local health services. As commissioners of local health services, a CCG is responsible for planning the right services to meet the needs of local people, and ensuring that they are provided. The practice manager was part of the CCG local management group. The practice engaged with patients through a virtual patient participation group (PPG) influencing and shaping services to meet patient needs. The patient participation group (PPG) is a group of active volunteer patients that work in partnership with practice staff and GPs.

Systems were in place to safeguard children and vulnerable adults. Patients were safeguarded by a structured recruitment and vetting practice however some records related to this area needed to be more robust.

The GP partners and practice manager were supportive and staff found them very approachable. There were risk management measures in place.