Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Summertown Health Centre on 13 July 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.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.

• 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. Generally 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.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.
• Clinical protocols were embedded in the day to day routine of the GPs and nurses at the practice. The protocols helped to ensure a consistent approach to care and treatment.
• Patients could be seen at any of the three practice sites offering flexibility of appointments.
• Patient registers were used to identify patients who might require flexible access to appointments or longer appointments.
• Leaders at the practice identified that development of staff skills, competence and knowledge was integral to delivery of high quality care.
• The practice worked with a care navigator and with local drug and alcohol services to meet the needs of patients with complex medical and social requirements.
• Services were delivered flexibly to provide clinics at local university colleges and boarding schools. There was close liaison with school and university college nurses.

We saw areas of outstanding practice,

• The practice had recently responded to a request from the local hospital to act as medical officers for a summer school for people learning English. The hospital asked for this cover to reduce the number of foreign language students attending A & E.
• The local drug and alcohol service held a weekly clinic at the practice. This aided close working between this specialist service and the GPs and provided patients with a service close to their home. The GPs were responsible for shared care agreements with this service for patients prescribed heroin substitutes.
• One of the GPs provided specialist Dermatology services which reduced the number of referrals to hospital and lengthy visits to outpatient departments.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Review provision of access to the main surgery premises for patients with mobility problems if the project to build new premises does not go ahead.
• Ensure the defibrillator is installed and commissioned at the Wolvercote branch surgery.
• Consider means of encouraging eligible patients to attend for breast screening.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice