Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Bedwell Medical Centre on 16 June 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.
• 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 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.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Continue to monitor and ensure improvement following the measures implemented to improve patient experience and GP patient survey results.
• Continue to re audit clinical initiatives to ensure continuous clinical improvement.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We inspected the Bedwell Medical Centre and the branch Roebuck Surgery to check if the improvements needed following our previous inspection on 29 January 2014 had been made. We found that the practice had made the required improvements and ensured a clean, hygienic environment for patient care. We spoke with three patients. They told us that they found the environment clean and tidy. Staff told us that arrangements for infection control were much better; improvements had been made to the way the practice was cleaned and that their training on infection control had been updated.

We completed an inspection at Bedwell Medical Centre and the Roebuck Surgery on the same day. This report provides information on our inspection of both practices.

We spoke with seven patients during our inspection. Feedback from most of the patients was positive. One patient told us, "The care’s very good."

We spoke with two practice GPs who were able to clearly describe the practice's care and treatment process for patients.

Patients were mostly cared for in a clean, hygienic environment. We found that consultation and treatment rooms were clean. However; one patient said, “It’s generally clean but the chairs could do with a makeover; they’re getting a bit threadbare.”

We saw some records of training courses which staff had attended, including safeguarding children. We found that staff had not attended infection control training or regular updates.

The practice was able to provide effective training and appropriate support to trainee doctors. One staff member said, “The whole team works together really well.”

We saw copies of meeting minutes which showed that issues were discussed with staff at the practice. We found that policies were detailed and contained appropriate information.

A member of the PPG told us, “The practice listens to the group and we’re treated as advisors. We’ve reported issues to the practice and they’ve acted on our concerns. Our opinions have been valued.”