Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Barkantine Practice on 24 November 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• Home visits by GPs, nurses and health care assistants were available for older patients and patients who had clinical needs which resulted in difficulty attending the practice including patients with long term conditions. This included visits for annual health checks, chronic disease management and phlebotomy.
• The practice was co-located with an NHS birth centre and one GP had trained to become a community gynaecologist and offer ultrasonography services which meant that patients could have continuity of care during pregnancy.
• 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 a track record of providing career progression opportunities for staff and had encouraged and supported staff to engage with ambitious training programmes. The practice also participated in wider training initiatives for clinicians as well as for younger people not in education or employment.
• The practice had a salary bonus scheme in place through which staff who performed well against agreed objectives could be rewarded with a bonus of up to 10% of annual salary. For instance, in the current financial year, some staff could achieve an element of the bonus by contributing to an increase in uptake of health screening programmes.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Review arrangements for managing vaccines to ensure that there is sufficient capacity to store stock safely.
• Continue to address issues identified in the national GP survey in order to improve patient satisfaction around involvement in care panning and making decisions about their care and treatment.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We spoke with eleven people using the Barkantine Practice, who told us they were happy with the services they received. Their comments included, “I have confidence in the doctors, they seem knowledgeable and up-to-date”, “my doctor speaks with me in a gentle and courteous way” and “it's fine and I have nothing bad to say.” We also spoke with two GP’s, the practice manager, nurses and health care assistants, and administrative staff working at the practice.

We saw people were spoken with in a helpful manner by staff and given the information they needed to make decisions about their care and treatment.

Staff at the Barkantine Practice had received training to recognise possible abuse and were aware of the local arrangements for safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.

Safe practices were in place for the recruitment of staff.

People using the service were provided with information about how to make a complaint about the practice. There were procedures for recording and managing complaints, which were resolved wherever possible.