Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Whitestone Surgery on 3 November 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good for providing safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led services.

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

• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and that there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day. The practice ensured patients were seen the same day if needed.

• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed. The practice had thoroughly reviewed all policies and procedures since it took over the practice two years ago.

• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance. Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and any further training needs had been identified and planned. Staff were encouraged to identify training and development that would benefit patients and the practice as a whole.

• Data showed patient outcomes were high compared to the locality and nationally. Audits had been carried out which provided evidence the practice was driving improvement in performance to improve patient outcomes. The practice performance had considerably improved over the last two years.

• 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 Patient Participation Group had a strong leadership and was very active within the local community. The practice and key staff had a high positive profile within the local community.

We saw several areas of outstanding practice including:

• A free ‘silver surfers’ group to encourage older patients to access practice services available on-line. This included on-line services used by the local pharmacy. Alongside this, patients were also taught basic computer skills relevant to their needs. This has helped to enable 45% of older patients registered with the practice to access practice services on-line.

• A monthly ‘carer’s café’ for carers of patients. Light refreshments were available free of charge. This gave carers the opportunity to meet other carers and practice staff were available to give appropriate help and advice as well as emotional support.

• A job club run in conjunction with the patient participation group (PPG). The practice recognised patient's well-being was also partially dependant on personal circumstances and sought to identify and meet patient's wider needs when possible.

There were areas where the provider should make improvements. The provider should:

• Ensure the complaints procedure is correctly followed. Patients did not receive a written acknowledgement when their complaint was received by the practice.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice

This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous rating November 2015 – Good)

The key questions at this inspection are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? - Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Whitestone Surgery on 16 October 2018 as part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

• Urgent same day patient appointments were available when needed. All patients we spoke with and those who completed comment cards before our inspection said they were always able to obtain same day appointments and access care when needed.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care delivered in line with current guidelines. Staff had the appropriate skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Results from the national GP patient survey revealed a high level of patient satisfaction about the care given at the practice and access to services which was either in-line with or above local and national averages. For example, 87% of patients who responded said that the last time they had a general practice appointment, the healthcare professional was good or very good at treating them with care and concern and 96% had confidence and trust in the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to.
• Patients said GPs gave them enough time and treated them with dignity and respect.
• The practice was actively engaged with the local community. The Patient Participation Group was involved with a number of community projects. This included an allotment project, an information technology group and a locally run carer’s café.

However there were areas of practice where the provider should make improvements:

• The practice should continue to carefully review events as they occur to determine whether they meet the threshold to be a significant event.
• The practice should ensure all meetings are consistently minuted.
• Review the patients on the palliative care register to ensure they all have an appropriate care plan in place

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice

Please refer to the detailed report and the evidence tables for further information.