This practice is rated as Good overall.

The key questions at this inspection are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? - Good

We carried out an announced inspection at Sundon Park Health Centre on 7 November 2018 as part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

• 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.
• The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they could access care when they needed it. The practice scored higher than the local and national averages in the national GP patient survey, published August 2018, for questions relating to appointment booking and access to the service.
• The practice was part of a local cluster of GP practices who worked together to secure and improve GP services for the local community.
• The practice carried out the NHS health checks and had a pro-active approach to inviting patients for their check. The practice had completed 221 NHS health checks in the year 2017/18 and had received a letter from the local Luton Council acknowledging their achievement.
• Data from the latest Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) 2017/2018 showed overall patient outcomes were above or in line with the local and national average in most areas. However, they were below the local and national averages for one area of diabetes care.
• There was a process for the management of medicines including high risk medicines. However, blood monitoring results were not always recorded in the patient record.
• The complaints documentation did not include details of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Continue to make improvements to the care of patients with diabetes where achievements were below the local CCG and national averages.
• Review the procedure for managing high risk medicines so blood monitoring results are recorded in the patient computer record.
• Update the complaints policy and the complaints response letters to patients to include details of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice

Please refer to the detailed report and the evidence tables for further information.