Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out a focused inspection of South Wight Medical Practice on 14 December 2016 to check that action had been taken since our previous inspection in March 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

At our previous inspection, the practice was rated good for Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well Led services and was rated as good overall. However, the practice was rated as requires improvement in the Safe domain due to breaches of regulations relating to the safe delivery of services.

This was because:

• A legionella risk assessment had not been carried out.
• The practice did not handle blank prescription forms in accordance with national guidance.

We inspected the practice on 14 December 2016 to confirm that they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to those requirements. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection of South Wight Medical Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Our key findings for this inspection were as follows:

• The practice had completed a Legionella risk assessment and had completed the requirements necessary to reduce risk of infection.
• The practice had updated their policy and protocol in relation to blank prescription forms and handled them in accordance with national guidance.

The practice is now rated good for Safe services.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at South Wight Medical practice on 24 March 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Specifically, we found the practice to be good for providing, well-led, effective, caring and responsive services. However, it requires improvement for providing safe services. It was also good for providing services for the following population groups; older people, people with long-term conditions, families, children and young people, working age people (including those recently retired and students), people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable, people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia).

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, with the exception of those relating to recruitment checks.
• 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 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.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

The practice had developed a mobile application which could be used on a Smartphone or Tablets, by patients, their carers or family members. The application was available 24 hours a day and provided information on the services available at the practice and could be used to book appointments and order repeat prescriptions without the need to contact the practice directly. There was also a feature on the application that allowed patients to give feedback on their experience of the service received and send messages to a particular member of staff, such as a nurse or GP.

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

Importantly the provider must

• Carry out a legionella risk assessment.
• Handle blank prescription forms in accordance with national guidance.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice