Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

This practice is rated as Good overall.

At our previous inspection in November 2014 the practice had an overall rating as 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

As part of our inspection process, we also look at the quality of care for specific population groups. The population groups were 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 an announced comprehensive inspection at Tilehurst Surgery in Reading, Berkshire on 7th March 2018. We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether Tilehurst Surgery was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

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 fully engaged with programmes developed in the local area to support patients' health and wellbeing in a number of different ways.
• 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 involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect. The practice was above average for its satisfaction scores on consultations with GPs and nurses in a number of areas.
• Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access urgent care when they needed it.
• Services were tailored to meet the needs of individual people and delivered in a way that ensured flexibility and choice. For example, the practice worked collaboratively with other external organisations and charities.
• There was a strong focus on mentoring, continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.
• We received positive feedback from external stakeholders and patients who access GP services from the practice.
• Succession planning within the practice for forthcoming retirements was well structured and co-ordinated.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

Safeguarding adults and children: the practice had developed a focused and streamlined system, with a dedicated administrator, to process all child protection (and domestic violence and vulnerable adult) reports in a timely and consistent way. This was demonstrated by an audit carried out by the West Berkshire Child Safeguarding Lead which showed the practice’s report response rate was 93% compared with the local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) average of 45%.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

Tilehurst Surgery is located in Reading, Berkshire. It provides primary medical services to approximately 13500 registered patients.

We carried out an announced, comprehensive inspection on 19 November 2014.

We visited the practice location at Tylers Place, Tilehurst, Reading, Berkshire, RG30 6BW.

We found the practice to be good for providing safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led services. Tilehurst Surgery is rated overall as good.

Our key findings were as follows:

• Comprehensive risk management processes were in place to ensure the practice was operating in a safe, clean environment including incident reporting and infection control audits.
• Patients were supported through, for example, care plans, to manage their conditions. Trained staff had development opportunities and had access to resources to improve outcomes for patients.
• Patient feedback from the national GP survey, practice survey and patients we spoke with was very positive about most aspects of the care and treatment they received.
• The practice appointment system was very flexible and there was a range of appointments to suit most patients’ needs. However, some patients reported difficulty in obtaining non-urgent appointments with their preferred GP.
• The practice focussed on quality and safety. It had an inclusive approach and welcomed learning from incidents, complaints and constructive challenge to improve the way it provided services.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

The practice pioneered a web-based approach to care planning to improve the care of patients with diabetes and promote self-management of their condition.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice