Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Willowbrook Medical Centre – JG Astles on 18 November 2015. 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.
• There was a GP lead which specialised in screening for the detection of chronic diseases such as atrial fibrillation, asthma and heart disease which had led to earlier diagnosis and a reduction in accident and emergency attendances and unplanned hospital admissions.
• All staff had received Mental Capacity Act Training.
• Childhood immunisation rates for the vaccinations given were higher than CCG/national averages.The practice attended regular meetings with health visitors.
• The practice had an active patient participation group (PPG) who met every two months.
• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had 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.
• 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.
• A clinical pharmacist worked in the practice on a weekly basis to carry out medication reviews with patients, undertook medicines and prescribing audits and took a lead role for medicines management.
• 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. GP partners had lead roles in various clinical areas. 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.
• The practice had an infection control lead and a policy in place however, clinical waste was not always stored appropriately.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Review the system for the safe storage of clinical waste.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Willowbrook Medical Centre is located in a suburban area on the eastern outskirts of the City of Leicester. On the day of our inspection the practice population consisted of 10,050 patients from a mix of social classes and ethnic groups.

The practice has another surgery located at Springfield Road Health Centre that was not included as part of this inspection.

We carried out an announced inspection on 9 July 2014.

During the inspection we spoke with patients and carers that used the surgery and met with members of the Patient Participation Group.

Patients we spoke with told us that they were treated with respect and their dignity was maintained.

We found the practice was effective and responsive in meeting patients’ needs and was well led by an enthusiastic and innovative management team.

We found that the practice was responsive to the needs of older people, people with long term conditions, mothers, babies, children and young people, the working age population, people in vulnerable circumstances and people experiencing poor mental health.

We identified that the practice must improve in assessing and monitoring the quality of service provision. This concerned ensuring that incoming correspondence that may contain important or urgent medical information was dealt with in a timely manner so as to minimise the risk to patients.

We identified deficiencies in the recruitment process for staff and training for staff in the area of mental capacity.

The practice had undertaken some outstanding work in developing a care package for patients with long term conditions that was being adopted by other practices.