Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Heights General Practice on 22 August 2017. The Heights General Practice is a location of SSP Health Primary Care Limited. Overall the practice is 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 a system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
• The practice had clearly defined and embedded systems to minimise risks to patient safety.
• The practice used innovative and proactive methods to improve patient outcomes and working with other local providers to share best practice. For example, ‘chaperone bubbles’ (chaperone bubbles are notices attached to the GPs desk informing patients chaperone were available) were implemented within the practice which led to an increase in the number of patients requesting a chaperone.
• Staff were aware of current evidence based guidance. Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills and knowledge to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Results from the national GP patient survey showed patients were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• The practice worked closely with other organisations such as Age UK and also the local community in planning how services were provided to ensure that they met patients’ needs.
• Information about services and how to complain was available. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns.
• The practice had a clear vision which had quality and safety as its top priority. The strategy to deliver this vision had been produced with stakeholders and was regularly reviewed and discussed with staff.
• Patients we spoke with 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.
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• 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 the requirements of the duty of candour. Examples we reviewed showed the practice complied with these requirements.

We saw areas of outstanding practice:

• The practice had identified that there were a number of patients suffering from financial hardship. In response to this the practice initiated a local foodbank and had collected food donations that had fed over 3000 people; 1200 of which were children.
• The practice had recognised that loneliness can impact on the health and wellbeing of its patient population and had addressed this through community integration. This had been driven by the practice and the PPG. It had included the production of a comprehensive newsletter which had been distributed across the population, offering patient transport to those who had difficulty in attending the practice and facilitating social events both in the practice and the local community hall. We saw evidence that this had reduced social isolation and increased well-being for several patients.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice