This practice is rated as Good overall. Previous inspection November 2014 - Outstanding

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

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Wigton Group Medical Practice on 10 April 2018 as part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

• The practice had systems to keep patients safe and safeguarded from abuse. However, there was no formal process in place to ensure that locum clinicians were up to date with mandatory training requirements.
• 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 they provided. They 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 organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. They took account of patient needs and preferences.
• Patients were able to access care and treatment from the practice within an acceptable timescale for their needs.
• There was a focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation. The practice proactively used performance information to drive improvement. However, at the time of our inspection not all staff had been given the opportunity of an annual appraisal.

We saw an area of outstanding practice:

• The practice had introduced ‘after GP’ appointments so that patients identified by the GP during an appointment as requiring blood and other tests could be seen immediately by a healthcare assistant. This meant that patients did not have to make another appointment and that they could receive any treatment they may need quicker. In addition this freed up routine appointment slots with nursing and health care staff and relieved pressure on reception staff.

However, there are areas where the provider should make improvements:

• The provider should continue with their plans to give all staff members the opportunity on an annual appraisal
• The provider should review and update their recruitment policy so that it includes details of the need to undertake all relevant pre-employment checks. They should also put a process in place to check that locum staff are up to dare with mandatory training before employment.
• They should improve current processes so that learning and trends and themes arising from significant events and incidents are shared with all staff at regular minuted meetings as a standard agenda item.

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

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out a planned comprehensive inspection of Wigton Group Medical Practice on 4 November 2014.

We rated the practice overall as outstanding.

Our key findings were as follows:

• The practice covered a semi-rural area; services had been designed to meet the needs of the local population.
• The practice had a strong focus on safety, putting patient need first and learning from incidents. There was evidence of a strong track record of safety over the long term.
• The practice was visibly clean and tidy and arrangements were in place to periodically review and improve the approach to infection control.
• Data showed the practice was performing highly when compared to England and local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) averages across a number of areas.
• Feedback from patients about their care and treatment was consistently and strongly positive.
• The practice had a clear vision to deliver high quality care and promote good outcomes for patients. There was strong leadership and strategic vision within the practice.

We saw several areas of outstanding practice including:

• The leadership, governance and culture within the practice were used to drive and improve the delivery of high-quality person-centred care.
• The practice had developed approaches to improve the rate of patients taking up flu vaccinations and bowel cancer screening. This had led the practice to achieve higher rates when compared to national averages.
• The practice worked actively with a partner organisation, West Cumbria Carers, to ensure they met the needs of patients with caring responsibilities.
• The practice recognised that to provide good quality care to patients, it also needed to look after its staff. We saw evidence of this in a number of areas including the process for reviewing significant events, governance and the induction processes for GPs new to the practice.
• The practice demonstrated a strong commitment to seeking and listening to patient views. Throughout the inspection they demonstrated how patient views had influenced improvements in patient care and service. They showed us a range of evidence (such as case studies, patient feedback and complaints) they had used to focus improvements on the needs and wishes of patients. This included celebrating what had gone well as well as identifying areas for improvement.
• The practice performed well against a number of key indicators, such as the low rate of emergency cancer admissions.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice