Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Croft Surgery on 24 November 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good with the domain of caring rated as outstanding.

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. The practice had clear evidence of the learning opportunities taken as a result of the monitoring of significant events.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Staff were encouraged to keep up to date and to take training opportunities whenever they came along.
• Patients said they found it easy to get through to the practice on the telephone, and felt they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect by all staff.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt well supported by the management team and GP’s.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour.
• The whole practice team worked together to provide a responsive service that put caring and patient safety at its heart.
• The practice had a multi-skilled workforce with all staff being able to support each other in different roles as and when needed.
• People were truly respected and valued as individuals and were empowered as partners in their care.

We saw areas of outstanding practice:

• A practice Patient Participation Group (PPG) had been in place since 2006 and had managed to attract a wide age range of members including working age and a teenage member. It was seen as a vital part of the way the practice worked with the PPG secretary / lead acting as a representative on the Allerdale Locality CCG. The PPG had attended the local school to talk about access to the service for the teenagers at the practice.
• The practice had achieved consistently high rates of patient satisfaction through the GP patient survey, the friends and family test and the CQC comment card uptake.
• The practice ran its winter flu vaccination sessions at three different venues across the practice boundaries. The PPG put on a coffee morning at these sessions to encourage the uptake of flu vaccinations. The local carers association had also attended to help identify and support carers and as a result of this were now providing monthly support sessions within the practice.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice

The Croft Surgery was a GP practice located in Kirkbride, Wigton. It served a rural community and was a dispensing practice. The practice registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on 1 April 2013 to provide the following regulates activities:-

Diagnostic and screening procedures; Family planning; Maternity and midwifery services; Surgical procedures; and, Treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

We spoke with a member of the Patient Participation Group (PPG) on the telephone prior to the day of the inspection visit. We also spoke with two patient trustees of the patient fund on the day of the inspection visit, and an additional four patients attending the surgery for appointments. The patients we spoke with were very complimentary about the service and we received excellent feedback from the comment cards which were left for patients to complete during our inspection.

We found managers and partner GPs had fostered an open and learning culture across the practice. The practice invested time supporting, training and ensuring the care provided was not just good, but consistent, enduring and safe.