Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The South Lawn Medical Practice on Wednesday 29 July 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 services for older people, those with long term conditions, families and young people, the working age and recently retired and to patients with mental illness including those living with dementia. We found the practice was giving an outstanding service to patients whose circumstances may make them vulnerable.

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.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed and medicines were managed well.
• Staff were employed after robust recruitment checks had been performed and received training appropriate to their roles and any further training needs had been identified and planned.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance.

• 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 an area of outstanding practice which related to providing services to patient whose circumstances make them vulnerable:

• The involvement of other organisations and the local community was integral to how services were planned and ensured that services met patient need. The practice included a representative from the Friends of Heavitree Health Centre charity in unplanned admission meetings to offer social support, provide transport services and befriend housebound and isolated patients. Practice staff had worked with a learning disabilities charity champion to improve facilities and services at the practice. Involvement of the charity had resulted in the introduction of many ‘easy read’ guides on subjects including contraception, cervical screening, healthy lifestyle and smoking cessation. A GP had also introduced a you tube video of ‘what to expect when you visit’ to help anxious patients prepare for a visit to the surgery.

However there were areas of practice where the provider should make improvements:

• Ensure that regular audits of infection control arrangements are carried out.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection July 2015 – Good)

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? - Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The South Lawn Medical Practice on Tuesday 15 May 2018 as part of our planned inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

• The practice had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes.
• The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care they provided. They ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.
• The practice had made improvements and acted upon feedback since our previous inspection. For example, the practice had put in place regular audits of infection prevention control which included the laundering of fabric curtains in consultation rooms.

We saw areas of outstanding practice:

The practice had an innovative approach to support people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable. The practice included a representative from the Friends of Heavitree Health Centre charity in unplanned admission meetings to offer social support, transport services and befriend housebound and isolated patients. The practice had introduced many ‘easy read’ guides on subjects including contraception, cervical screening, healthy lifestyle and smoking cessation. A GP had also introduced a film which they displayed on social media of ‘what to expect when you visit’ to help anxious patients prepare for a visit to the practice.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGPChief Inspector of General Practice