Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Townfield Health Centre on 19 September 2017. Overall the practice is rated as good.

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

• There were systems in place to mitigate safety risks including reviewing significant events and dealing with safeguarding.
• Staff were aware of current evidence based guidance. Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills and knowledge to deliver effective care and treatment.

• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered in line with current legislation.

• Patients said they were treated with care, compassion, dignity and respect and were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• Information about services and how to complain was available. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and feedback.
• Appointments were accessible, with extended hours opening for pre bookable appointments at the weekend.
• Patients said they had seen an improvement in access to the service since October 2016.
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.

• The practice had arrangements to respond to emergencies and major incidents.

• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The practice sought patient views about improvements that could be made to the service; including having an active patient participation group (PPG) and acted, where possible, on feedback.

• Staff worked well together as a team, knew their patients well and all felt supported to carry out their roles.

• The provider was aware of the requirements of the duty of candour.

We saw an area of outstanding practice:

• The practice had implemented a unique, innovative performance management dashboard, in part, as a response to patient feedback to improve access and also to monitor and respond rapidly to staffing, safety and clinical issues. This dashboard provides live information across the Wirral hub for the provider. As well as addressing concerns regarding access, monitoring of staff scheduling and QOF performance, it serves as information to staff as to how well each practice is performing and acts to incentivise performance. We saw that improvements had been made to access as a direct result. Improvements in staffing resources and clinical performance was also seen.

There was an area of practice where the provider needs to make improvements and the provider should:

• Review the system for reviewing significant events and complaints on a regular basis in order to identify themes and trends and learn from these.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice