Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Skelmanthorpe Family Doctors on 8 September 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. A lunchtime safety meeting was held at the practice each day to review any concerns.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• 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.
• An on-call clinician ensured that home visits could be undertaken late into the afternoon for urgent cases and also reviewed key correspondence on day of receipt to ensure results and correspondence from secondary care was dealt with promptly.
• The practice implemented suggestions for improvements and made changes to the way it delivered services as a consequence of feedback from the patient participation group. For example, improving the appointment and telephone answering systems.
• Vulnerable patients including those with a cancer diagnosis or a serious mental illness were followed up by the GPs if an appointment was missed.

• The provider had implemented the use of virtual onlineconsultations underpinned by a clear clinical protocol to widen accessibility of appointments for patients. A consultation by email protocol was also being piloted by the practice.

• 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. For example, by moving the time of the baby clinic and coordinating this with a childhood immunisation clinic.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour and had a clear policy statement. In addition, a policy called Being Open underpinned their approach to honesty and integrity, ensuring that all staff were aware of their duty of care.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice