This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection 1 October 2014 rating – Good)

The key questions 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 comprehensive inspection at The Border Practice on 17 December 2018 as part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

• The practice had clear systems to manage risks to patients and staff. When incidents occurred, the practice learned from them and improved their processes.
• The practice monitored the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided to ensure treatment was always appropriate. National data indicators showed there was consistently high performance in managing common long-term conditions.
• 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.
• There was a focus on learning and improvement.
• The practice continuously reviewed the needs of its patient population and adapted processes to improve services for its population.

The provider should:

• Continue to identify means to improve child immunisation uptake.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGPChief Inspector of General Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

This was a comprehensive inspection of the Border Practice and was carried out on 1 October 2014.

The practice was well led by the GP partners and the practice manager. We rated this practice as good overall. We found outstanding practice in the way the practice responded to the needs of people with long term conditions, providing them with effective care and treatment. The practice had responded to the needs of working patients and those patients who had barriers to accessing GP services.

Our key findings were as follows:

• The practice was rated highly by patients for the respect they were shown, their confidence in the ability of the doctor or nurse and their ability to listen.
• The practice provided GP appointments at times that met the needs of their patients.
• The practice was able to offer specialist clinics to patients to avoid the need to attend hospital.
• There were effective infection control procedures in place and the practice building appeared clean and tidy.

We saw areas of outstanding practice including:

• The effective care of patients diagnosed with hypertension went beyond best practice by reviewing that diagnosis. This entailed monitoring their blood pressure for a full twenty four hour period with a view to confirming or refuting their diagnosis of hypertension so their treatment could be improved.

• The practice had a flexible approach to providing care for patients with a learning disability to ensure they received care and treatment in a way that met their needs. The practice carried annual health checks in the patient’s own home or during quiet times to ensure the patient felt as relaxed as possible, were supported by their carer or were in familiar surroundings.

However the provider should:

• Have a written policy for maintenance of the cold chain for temperature sensitive medicines including action to take in the event of a potential failure. 
• Have a mercury spillage kit available to safely dispose of any mercury if their blood pressure machine were to break.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice