Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Shakespeare Health Centre on 14 July 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.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.
• 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. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns.
• Most patients said they found it easy to make an appointment 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 the partners, the lead GP and management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
• The current practice partners had successfully turned around the performance of the practice, for example as measured by the Quality and outcomes framework. The practice was willing to experiment and trial new ideas for the benefit of patients.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

• The partners were in the process of implementing a clear strategy to improve the management of long term conditions. The effective use of clinical audit, accredited training for the whole team and the employment of a pharmacist had transformed the management and control of diabetes within a year.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• The practice should improve levels of patient uptake for cervical, bowel and breast cancer screening to reduce the risk of patients developing avoidable cancers or the late detection of cancers.
• The practice should improve its identification of patients who are also carers and ensure their needs are assessed.
• The practice should do more to protect vaccines and any other medicines required to be kept cold in line with current guidelines.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice