We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Station Road Surgery on 1 July 2015.

We found the practice to be good for providing safe, effective, caring and services. It was also good for providing services for older people, people with long term conditions, families, children and young people, working age people including those recently retired and students, people whose circumstances make them vulnerable and people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia).

We found the practice to require improvement for providing well led services.

Our key findings were as follows:

• There were systems in place to ensure safe care. Policies were reviewed regularly and all staff were aware of their responsibilities in terms of the provision of care.

• The practice also had an appropriate system in place to review untoward incidents which were used to inform how services might be developed to improve patient care.

• The practice building was clean and had been redesigned to ensure that it was fit for purpose.

• Outcomes for patients at the practice were in line with or better than national averages, and a developed system of audit was in place at the practice.

• Multidisciplinary meetings were held and care was planned and shared with healthcare providers in the community.

• Patients reported that staff in the practice were caring and told us they were treated with dignity and respect.

• The practice had made efforts to ensure that care was responsive and targeted to its practice population in conjunction with the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand. This included the practice’s website which was thorough, clear and informative. Appointments could be made and prescriptions requested online.

• Staff at the practice understood their roles and responsibilities and line management arrangements were clear.

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

The provider should:

• Ensure that all staff who are acting as chaperones are appropriately trained and risk assess as to whether or not clearance by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is required.

• The practice should ensure that there are appropriate means of sharing information with administrative staff.

• The practice should assure itself that all staff feel confident about raising concerns as several staff that we spoke to said that they were not. This should include formal team meetings in which administrative staff are included.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice