Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at on 27 July 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.

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.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• 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.
• 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. 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 taken several steps to improve their care for people with long term conditions such as medicines synchronization, increased support for patients with diabetes and a robust system of recalling these patients for health checks and medicine reviews.
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• The practice had a strong culture of learning and development, with a structured coaching programme in place.
• 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.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice

During the inspection we spoke with the registered manager, they were the lead General Practitioner (GP) at the practice. We also spoke to the practice manager a health care assistant and three people using the service.

One person using the service said, “I am really very happy with the surgery, the GP’s and reception staff are friendly, and it’s easy to make an appointment. Another person attending the practice with their child said “The GP explained everything to me. They told me what I need to do for my child to help them get better”.

We saw that the practice had safeguarding policies that related to adults and children and the registered manager was the lead contact for each of these at the practice.

We saw the practice was clean and well maintained throughout. People using the service said the practice was always clean and tidy.

We saw that the practice had effective systems in place to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people received. We found that patient's views were taken into account to improve the practice for patients.