Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Altrincham Medical Practice on 10th December 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.
• 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.
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• There was a very clear leadership structure and staff felt particularly 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.

The provider should :

• Introduce a system so that patients are routinely advised about the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) if they are unhappy with their received response.In addition, learningfrom complaints should be more widely disseminated and discussed to ensure that all staff are aware when things go wrong.

• Check that patient records are documented when patients are offered, but refuse the services of a chaperone.

We saw areas of outstanding practice:

• The practice undertook a continuous audit process throughout the year which involved all members of staff and was not restricted to clinical audit. The findings from those audits were used to make changes, improve services anddevelop staff into roles which were better equipped to meet patients needs and provide positive outcomes.

• The practice regularly gathered feedback from patients through patient satisfaction forms which were handed out by all the clinicians at various intervals. A member of staff was responsible for collating the feedback and reporting positive and negative comments back to the practice manager, which was then addressed with each clinician where necessary.

• There was a high level of constructive engagement with staff and a high level of staff satisfaction. Staff roles and responsibilities were altered and enhanced to meet the demands of patients’s needs. Training and reward was provided to support staff in those role changes.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We reviewed the information available to us about Altrincham Medical Practice on 16 April 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.