Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We had carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of Tanworth-in-Arden Medical Practice on 18 September 2015. As a result of our inspection the practice was rated as good overall but required improvement for providing safe services.

During the last inspection we identified a breach of regulation around safe care and treatment. The area we identified the provider must improve:

• The provider must ensure that supplies of equipment and medicines for use in an emergency are appropriately maintained.

We also identified further areas the provider should improve:

• Review the checking process for monitored dosage packs to mitigate the risk of medicine dispensing errors.
• Review the documentation of risk assessments.

Following the inspection the practice sent us an action plan detailing the actions they were going to take to improve.

We carried out a focused desk-based review of Tanworth-in-Arden Medical Practice on 15 February 2017 to check that the provider had made improvements in line with our recommendations and to ensure regulations were now being met. This report only covers our findings in relation to those requirements. The full comprehensive report for the November 2015 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Tanworth-in-Arden Medical Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

The practice is now rated as good for the provision of safe services.

As part of our focused desk-based review the management team provided evidence to demonstrate that:

• The provider had revised their system and ensured that supplies of equipment and medicines for use in an emergency were appropriately maintained.

• The checking process for monitored dosage packs had been reviewed and updated to mitigate the risk of medicine dispensing errors.
• The documentation of risk assessments had been reviewed and processes updated to ensure that records were managed more effectively.

We were satisfied that the practice had made the required improvements.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We had carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of Tanworth-in-Arden Medical Practice on 18 September 2015. As a result of our inspection the practice was rated as good overall but required improvement for providing safe services.

During the last inspection we identified a breach of regulation around safe care and treatment. The area we identified the provider must improve:

• The provider must ensure that supplies of equipment and medicines for use in an emergency are appropriately maintained.

We also identified further areas the provider should improve:

• Review the checking process for monitored dosage packs to mitigate the risk of medicine dispensing errors.
• Review the documentation of risk assessments.

Following the inspection the practice sent us an action plan detailing the actions they were going to take to improve.

We carried out a focused desk-based review of Tanworth-in-Arden Medical Practice on 15 February 2017 to check that the provider had made improvements in line with our recommendations and to ensure regulations were now being met. This report only covers our findings in relation to those requirements. The full comprehensive report for the November 2015 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Tanworth-in-Arden Medical Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

The practice is now rated as good for the provision of safe services.

As part of our focused desk-based review the management team provided evidence to demonstrate that:

• The provider had revised their system and ensured that supplies of equipment and medicines for use in an emergency were appropriately maintained.

• The checking process for monitored dosage packs had been reviewed and updated to mitigate the risk of medicine dispensing errors.
• The documentation of risk assessments had been reviewed and processes updated to ensure that records were managed more effectively.

We were satisfied that the practice had made the required improvements.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

On the day of our inspection we spoke with eight patients and three members of staff. We were unable to speak with the doctor due to patient appointments.

All patients we spoke with were satisfied with the practice and the appointment system. They told when necessary they were given an appointment on the same day. One patient told us: “I can always get an appointment on the same day if I ring before 9.00am.”

We saw that patients’ views and experiences were taken into account in the way the service was provided and that they were treated with dignity and respect. When patients received care or treatment they were asked for their consent and their wishes were listened to.

The practice is located in a modern building with two floors. It is fully accessible for people with disabilities and has a lift. There were disabled parking bays close to the entrance in the car park. The surgery is also fitted with a hearing aid loop. One patient said: “The waiting room is very relaxing. The building eases some of the concerns of having to see a doctor.”

We found the practice to be clean and well organised. Processes were in place to minimise the risk of infection. There were also processes in place for monitoring the quality of service provision. There was an established system for regularly obtaining opinions from patients about the standard of the service they received.