Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Bankfield Surgery on 13 October 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Specifically we rated the practice as good in providing safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led services. It was also good for providing services for all of the population groups.

Our key findings were as follows:

• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns and to report incidents, near misses and any identified safeguarding issues. Issues raised were discussed at team meetings. However staff had not been trained in completing the electronic incident report form.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidelines
• Patients told us they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment
• Guidance on how to complain was visible and a complaints leaflet was accessible to patients and easy to understand
• Patients said there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available on the same day
• DBS checks for non-clinical staff carrying out chaperone duties had not been carried out at the time of our inspection but following our visit we have received evidence that they have now been completed
• A fire risk assessment had not been completed at the time of our visit. Following on from the inspection we received evidence that the assessment had been completed and identified actions been carried out
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by the partners. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients and acted on that feedback

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

• Patients identified as being in circumstances which may make them vulnerable were provided with a Vulnerable Inpatient Folder (VIP card) which provided information regarding their health in the event of them being admitted to hospital

However there are areas where the provider needs to make improvements:

The provider should:

• Comply with fire safety regulations by ensuring all staff are trained in fire safety and performing fire evacutation drills as required

• Keep an up to date record of all training and updates attended by staff

• Ensure staff appraisals are performed annually

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice