Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an inspection of Tadcaster Medical Centre on 2 June 2015, as part of our comprehensive programme of inspection of primary medical services. The inspection team found after analysing all of the evidence that the practice was safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led. It was rated as good for all of the population groups.

Our key findings were as follow:

• The practice is safe. 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.

• The practice is effective. Patients received care according to professional best practice clinical guidelines. The practice had regular information updates, which informed staff about new guidance to ensure they were up to date with best practice. According to the data from Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), an annual reward and incentive programme showing GP practice achievement results, outcomes for patients registered with this practice were above average.
• The practice is caring. Patients reported the positive view they had of the doctors and staff at the surgery. Practice staff knew their patients well. We received many examples of how their GPs acted ‘over and above’ their expectations from them; these included contacting patients over the weekend and home visiting after accidental deaths. The practice ensured patients received accessible, individual care, whilst respecting their needs and wishes. The QOF indicators showed that patients felt listened to and involved in decisions about their care and this was similar to other practices in the area.
• The practice is responsive. The appointment system was guided by internal audit and evaluation of the needs and views of the patients. Urgent needs were addressed on the day and the patients in general were able to see the GP of their choice. Although some expressed concern about not being able to see the GP of their choice at a time convenient for them. The service had positive working relationships between staff and other healthcare professionals involved in the delivery of service.
• The practice is well led. The management team reflected upon the services they provided and actively explored ways of improving health and care outcomes. Quality and performance was monitored and risks were identified and managed.

We saw several areas of outstanding practice including:

• The practice as part of SHIELD (The Selby Area Federation of GP Practices) had won an innovation fund, to develop social prescribing. This fund was used initially to support the local voluntary service to produce an up to date data base of available voluntary social care organisations. Patients were then referred to the most appropriate services.
• The practice was pro-active and reactive to managing patient access, their needs and expectations. All patients who wanted a same day appointment were called back and only triaged by the GP. Over 75 years of age patients always had a same day appointment if needed.
• The practice used the term Query–Doc for the GP who had a shortened morning surgery to ensure all correspondence was read and dealt with on the day. This assured any changing or emerging health needs of patients were responded to effectively and efficiently.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice