Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Shipston Medical Centre on 01 March 2016. The overall rating for this service is outstanding.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was provided to meet those needs in line with current guidance. Staff had the skills and expertise to deliver effective care and treatment to patients, and this was maintained through a programme of continuous development to ensure their skills remained current and up-to-date.
• Information was provided to help patients understand the care available to them. Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns and report incidents and near misses. There was an open and transparent approach to reporting and recording these and learning was shared with staff at meetings relevant to their roles and responsibilities.
• The practice worked closely with other organisations and with the local community in planning how services were provided to ensure that they met patients’ needs. For example, the practice engaged with a local Health and Wellbeing Board to improve the care of patients with mental health concerns and those who cared for them.
• The practice had a clear vision which had quality and safety as its top priority. Planning was in place to demonstrate the intended development of the services provided by the practice.

We saw several areas of outstanding practice including:

• The practice had initiated with people of Shipston on Stour for the town to become a dementia friendly community and a community steering group had been formed. Learning was shared within the community and safe places were established in areas such as cafes and shops that patients with dementia could feel safe. Families and carers of patients had commented on how patients had benefitted from this as people in the community showed greater awareness and understanding of patients’ needs.

• The practice engaged with a local charity to educate the community and specifically younger people on the dangers of alcohol and drug misuse. One of the GPs provided regular educational sessions at the local youth club. Information was available to show these were well attended.

• There were innovative approaches to providing integrated person-centred care. The GPs attended the local Children’s Centre every six weeks to provide educational sessions on minor illness and the care of young children with new parents. Practice nurses provided educational sessions on the use of inhalers at a local children’s nursery. Health visitors confirmed that the sessions were consistently attended by on average six mums, and that these helped young mums develop their knowledge and skills to become more confident in caring for their babies and young children.

• The practice promoted health awareness through community groups such as the Lions and Rotary in which blood pressure and diabetes screening was carried out. They held on-site educational evenings for those patients with poorly controlled diabetes which were supported by local groups such as slimming clubs and local activity groups. In excess of 60 people attended to receive these checks and healthy living advice.

• The practice provided a free loan of equipment for patients such as wheelchairs and nebulisers. They also facilitated the calibration of patients own equipment to ensure it worked correctly and accurately.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Shipston Medical Centre provides primary care services for patients in Shipston-on-Stour and the surrounding area. It also provides GP cover to the nearby Ellen Badger Hospital.

All the patients we spoke with were highly complimentary about the service they received. We saw the results of a patient survey that showed patients were consistently pleased with the service they received.

Appropriate systems were in place to ensure patients were kept safe.

The provider regularly met with the local clinical commissioning group (CCG) to discuss service performance and improvement issues. The provider worked in partnership with the CCG and other local health teams and was proactive in responding to people’s needs.

The leadership team were highly visible to all staff and had an ‘open door’ policy. Staff found them very approachable. The practice had appropriate governance and risk management measures in place.

We inspected the following regulated activities; treatment of disease, disorder and injury; surgical procedures; maternity and midwifery services; family planning and diagnostic and screening procedures.

We reviewed the information available to us about Shipston Medical Centre on 29 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.