Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Castle Practice on 13 April 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 had effective procedures in place to ensure care and treatment was delivered in line with current evidence based guidance.
• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise safety concerns and to report incidents and near misses.
• 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.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
• Some staff had not received updates on mandatory training, but were aware of the procedures to follow.
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• The practice had a system in place to identify carers, but the numbers on the register were low due to the practice not coding the information on the medical records.
• 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 Candor. The practice encouraged a culture of openness and honesty.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Effectively code all patients identified as carers.

• Continue to monitor and improve access to the practice.

• Review telephone access as results from the January GP patient survey showed 44% of patients said they could get through easily to the practice by phone (CCG average of 68%, national average of 73%).

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice