Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Village Surgery on 18 August 2016. Overall the practice is rated as Good.

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

• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns.
• 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.
• 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 and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• The provider should review and continue to take action to identify carers who are patients at their practice.
• The provider should fully implement their infection control action plan.
• The provider should continue to monitor patient satisfaction levels and access to appointments to ensure they meet patient needs.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Village Surgery on 21 February 2019 as part of our inspection programme.

We based our judgement of the quality of care at this service on a combination of:

• what we found when we inspected
• information from our ongoing monitoring of data about services and
• information from the provider, patients, the public and other organisations.

We have rated this practice as good overall and good for all population groups.

We found that:

• The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
• Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
• Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
• The practice organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
• The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management.
• Staff worked well together as a team and all felt supported to carry out their roles. There was a strong team ethos and culture of working together.
• The practice had utilised the care coordinator role to good effect in the practice supporting patients with complex health and social care needs.

The areas where the provider should:

• Review the security of rooms that are required to be kept locked to ensure staff maintain this protocol.
• Keep the infection control audit programme under review to ensure future audits are completed in a more regular timeframe.
• Review the patient group directives (PGDs) to ensure they are signed and authorised at the appropriate times.

Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice