Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Shafton Lane Surgery on 9 February 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good for providing safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led care for all of the population groups it serves.

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 was in place for reporting and recording significant events.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice 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 were involved in care and decisions about their treatment.
• Patients we spoke with and comments we received were positive about access to the service. They said they found it easy to make an appointment and urgent appointments were available on the same day as requested.
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat and meet the needs of patients.
• The practice sought patient views on how improvements could be made to the service, through the use of patient surveys, the NHS Friends and Family Test and the patient participation group.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff were supported by management.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour.

However, there was one area of practice where the provider should make improvements:

• Maintain a formal risk register of those patients who are most at risk of having an unplanned hospital admission. This would enable the practice to ensure they are providing additional care and support for all those patients as appropriate.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We inspected this service on the 21 October 2014 as part of our new comprehensive inspection programme. We have rated the practice as good.

Our key findings were as follows:

• Lessons were learned and improvements were made when things went wrong.
• Patients were supported to live healthier lives.
• Patients told us they were treated with kindness, dignity and respect whilst they received care and treatment.
• Services at the practice were planned and delivered to take in to account of the needs of different patients.
• Staff understood their role in achieving a patient focussed service.

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

• The practice sought to improve patient care and outcomes through audit. However, there was no evidence to show that changes were implemented within the practice as a result of the clinical audits cycles.

Importantly, the provider must:

• Ensure that its recruitment process covered the essential checks for all new starters, such as Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks prior to employment.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We reviewed the information available to us about Shafton Lane Surgery on 8 May 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.