Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

This practice is rated as Good overall.

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? - Good

As part of our inspection process, we also look at the quality of care for specific population groups. The population groups are rated as:

Older People – Good

People with long-term conditions – Good

Families, children and young people – Good

Working age people (including those recently retired and students – Good

People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable – Good

People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia) - Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Spring Hill Medical Centre on 19 December 2017 as part of our inspection programme. The practice was previously inspected on 10 February 2015 and was rated as Good.

At the latestinspection we found:

• Urgent same day patient appointments were available when needed. All patients we spoke with and those who completed comment cards before our inspection said they were always able to obtain same day appointments and access care when needed.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care delivered in line with current guidelines. Staff had the appropriate skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Results from the national GP patient survey revealed a high level of patient satisfaction about the care given at the practice. For example, 94% of patients who responded said the last GP they saw or spoke to was good at treating them with care and concern and 98% had confidence and trust in the last GP they saw or spoke to.

• The practice had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes.

• Patients said GPs gave them enough time and treated them with dignity and respect.

• A business plan was in place for 2017-2019 which set key targets for quality, staffing and finance.

• The practice leadership focussed on ensuring that all staff understood who important they were to the practice and also ensured staff had an effective work/life balance.

• Located in an area with larger elderly population, the practice had identified 280 patients as carers (just under 8% of the practice list).

• The practice has a trained care navigator and was part of a pilot for Age UK.

However there were areas of practice where the provider should make improvements:

• Continue to implement and monitor actions to improve areas highlighted as below the average in the annual national GP patient survey, particularly in the area of access to care and treatment.

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 Springhill Medical Centre on 10 February 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Specifically, we found the practice to be good for providing safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led services. It was also good for providing services for patients across all age ranges and to patients with varied needs due to their health or social circumstances.

Our key findings were as follows:

• The practice had systems for monitoring and maintaining the safety of the practice and the care and treatment they provided to their patients.
• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses.
• The practice was clean and hygienic and had arrangements for reducing the risks from healthcare associated infections.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and the practice planned and delivered care following best practice guidance.
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• The practice had introduced ways to assist patients with the highest level of need to receive care quickly and easily.
• The practice had a well-established and well trained team with expertise and experience in a range of health conditions.
• Patients said that staff were compassionate, supportive, friendly and understanding.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand. The practice responded to complaints in a positive way.
• The practice communicated with patients and acted on feedback to improve the service they provided.
• The practice had recognised that internal communication processes was an area which they needed to develop and improve.

We saw the following area of outstanding practice

• The practice had introduced a system that they had called 'Purple patients' to assist patients with cancer, autism, significant incapacity and those using oxygen to obtain prompt appointments. The scheme was introduced to take into account of the particular needs of those patients. This included the specific risk of infection for cancer patients during periods of receiving chemotherapy. The scheme involved patients being flagged on the practice computer system as ‘purple patients’. The practice had made a commitment that these patients could expect continuity of care by seeing the same GP for their appointments. The practice also provided same day appointments for them and as far as possible accommodated their preferred time. ‘Purple patients’ or their carers could also be offered a side room to wait in until their GP called them if their circumstances made this necessary.

There were also areas where the practice needs to make improvements

The practice should –

• Review its recruitment policy and procedures to make sure these include all necessary employment checks for all staff.

• Review opportunities for the practice team to share information about the practice’s vision and strategy and to share learning from significant events and complaints.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice