Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection February 2016 – Good overall)

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

As part of our inspection process, we also look at the quality of care for specific population groups. The population groups are rated as:

Older People – Good

People with long-term conditions – Good

Families, children and young people – Good

Working age people (including those recently retired and students – Good

People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable – Good

People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia) - Good

We carried out a comprehensive inspection of Thurleigh Road Practice under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. The inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

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 it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• Staff treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect and involved them in decisions about their care and treatment.
• 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 areas where the provider should make improvements are:

Review how patients with caring responsibilities are identified and recorded on the clinical system to ensure information, advice and support is made available to them.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Thurleigh Road Practice on 2 February 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 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.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment, with urgent appointments available the same day; however, continuity of care was identified by patients as an issue as there was often a long wait to see a named or preferred GP.
• 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, and had an active Patient Participation Group (PPG).
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour.

We saw one area of outstanding practice;

The practice recognised that their relatively high proportion of children and young people, particularly those aged under 5, were also frequent service users. This prompted the practice to set up and run parenting courses for local families. The practice has seen a reduction in out of hours Accident & Emergency (A&E) department admissions since the courses started, prompting the local CCG to roll out the courses to other practices.

Areas where the practice should improve;

The practice should review ways to improve patient access to their named or preferred GP.

The practice should ensure more carers are identified from the patient list.

The practice should ensure more patients diagnosed with asthma receive an annual review of their condition.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice