Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Oaks Medical Centre on 17 November 2015. 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 an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.

• The practice reviewed significant events every six months to ensure improvements were implemented in a timely manner and full staff meetings were used to discuss learning outcomes and within the local CCG.

• Information about safety was highly valued and used to promote learning and improvement. Risk management was comprehensive, well embedded and recognised as the responsibility of all staff.
• 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.
• Data from the GP survey was consistently high, this included access to appointments and confidence in care provided by GPs, where 100% of patients surveyed agreed they had confidence and trust in the last GP they saw or spoke to.
• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• 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.
• 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 areas of outstanding practice:

• The practice assessed appointments several times a day and when demand was high additional appointments were assigned for patients, reception staff were empowered to be patient advocates and accommodated patients’ needs. In practice this meant the vast majority of patients had access to an appointment on the same day.

• Patients whose circumstances may make them vulnerable were able to see a GP or nurse without an appointment as this was found to improve attendance and accommodate their often chaotic lifestyles.The practice also allowed patients to use the practice address for post, allowing other agencies to engage and support patients where appropriate.

• The practice staff had highlighted risks in administering adrenalin in an emergency. To mitigate this, a visual guide had been produced for quick reference to ensure the correct dose was administered to the patient.

• The practice were routinely updating policies and procedures to reduce future reoccurrence of risks highlighted from significant events and complaints.Significant event analysis was comprehensively reviewed to ensure updates were effective.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice