Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Abbey Medical Practice on 2 March 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.

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

• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered in line with best practice guidance. Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns and report incidents and near misses. There was an open and transparent approach to safety and a system in place for recording and monitoring significant events.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• Patients said that staff were compassionate, kind and professional. Patients felt that they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• The practice provided information about services and how to complain, which was 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.
• The practice took part in an extended hours pilot scheme, funded by the Prime Minister's Challenge Fund. Patients could book appointments from 6.30pm to 9pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and from 9am to 1pm on Saturdays.
• The practice was in a modern building with good facilities. It was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by their colleagues and by the management team. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff, patients and the Patient Participation Group (PPG) , which it acted on.
• The practice had a clear vision about providing high quality service in a safe manner.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

• The business manager had worked with a patient with a rare disease and a Clinical Nurse Specialist to write a protocol for the management of breakthrough infections (May 2015). This has now been adopted by the UK Primary Immune-deficiency Patient Support organisation.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Introduce a robust system that provides a clear audit trail to ensure that all relevant staff receive NICE guidelines.

• Improve exception coding, for example with regard to chronic kidney disease.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We reviewed the information available to us about Abbey Medical Practice on 4 June 2019. We did not find evidence of significant changes to the quality of service being provided since the last inspection. As a result, we decided not to inspect the surgery at this time. We will continue to monitor this information about this service throughout the year and may inspect the surgery when we see evidence of potential changes.