Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Victoria Road Surgery on 24 May 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 and there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
• The practice ran a walk in clinic for one hour every weekday afternoon for children under five years of age.
• 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.

We saw some areas of outstanding practice including:

• The practice employed a Practice Patient Lead who represented and supported older and vulnerable patients and also those with long term conditions. This included helping them with any difficulty that they may have had with medicines.

• The practice carried out, and acted upon, an annual staff survey.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• To assess the reasons for, and ways of, improving on the lower than average uptake of some childhood vaccines.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)

Chief Inspector of General Practice