Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Woolstone Medical Centre on 4 August 2016 and 1 September 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. However, fire extinguishers at the practice had not been serviced.
• 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. However, the practice did not keep a centralised record that all relevant training had been completed.
• 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 with a named GP and there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
• 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 the following areas of outstanding practice:

• The practice had received feedback from patients with poor mental health and learning disabilities that they felt that a patient waiting room could feel congested and leave them feeling nervous. As a result the practice had :

• Designed and introduced a quiet room adjacent to the wating room next to the reception area. This allowed patients to wait in a quiet and secluded area. The practice staff had received training from the Rethink mental health charity, and they had used this training when designing the room.

• Across the road from the practice was a care home for patients with complex learning disabilities. As well as the quiet room, the practice had put in place a system whereby patients could be called from by the doctor directly from the home, preventing them from having to wait for their appointment. The practice had received positive feedback from patients with poor mental health, vulnerable patients and carers in relation to these changes.

• The practice provided details of specific training with which staff had been provided to better provide services to patients, including autism and dementia awareness.

• One member of the reception team had been trained in grief counselling and was a point of contact for these patients.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• The practice should arrange for fire extinguishers in the practice to be serviced on an annual basis.

• The practice should consider keeping a local record of all relevant training completed by staff in the practice.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice