Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at the Manor Street Surgery on 23 March 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Specifically, we found the practice to be good for providing safe, well-led, effective, caring and responsive services. It was also good for providing services for older people, people with long term conditions, families with young children, working age people, those whose circumstances make them vulnerable and those patients suffering with mental health problems.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses. Information about safety was recorded, monitored, appropriately reviewed and addressed.

• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance. Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and any further training needs had been identified and planned.

• 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 that 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.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

• The practice demonstrated genuine commitment to learning, sharing experiences and ways to improve patient outcomes by holding a ‘Journal Club’ and regular meetings. GPs and nurses met monthly and focussed on a specific topic which one member of the team would have researched and shared information and best practice with the team that provided an opportunity for discussion and learning. Guest speakers were also invited to update the team on the latest service developments available for patients.

However there were areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.

Importantly the provider should:

• Ensure that all staff complete the training in adult safeguarding, infection control and fire training as planned.

• Carry out a new infection control audit as agreed when training is completed to include the risk assessment and mitigation of risk due to absence of elbow taps in clinical rooms.
• Carry out a formal risk assessment for all staff who act as a chaperone if they do not have a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice