Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Bidford Health Centre on 16 June 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.

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

• The practice had an effective system for reporting and recording significant events. Robust procedures and measures were used to keep patients safe and help protect them from abuse.
• Risks to patients were effectively assessed and managed by staff.
• The practice used current evidence based guidance to assess patients’ needs and deliver care. Up to date training was provided to ensure staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Patients told us they found the GPs pleasant, friendly and efficient. The people we spoke with felt they were treated with dignity, compassion and their wishes were respected.
• Information about 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 told us they were able to get appointments when they needed them and urgent appointments were available on the same day, but they could wait several days to see their preferred GP.
• 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 practice was familiar with the conditions of the duty of candour and exercised an open and honest culture.

We saw two areas of outstanding practice:

• The practice held patient education meetings approximately twice a year in conjunction with the Patient Participation Group (PPG). These were held during evenings at the practice and aimed to better inform patients about their health and care. The meetings were well attended and were aimed at patients, their carers, and was also open to other members of the public. For example, one meeting had focused on diabetes information and speakers had included the practice nurses, a patient representative from the local branch of the Diabetes UK charity support group and a local dietician. The success of the practice’s patient education meeting on dementia had confirmed the increasing prevalence in dementia and the local demand for support, as well as helping to increase the number of patients on the carers register. The carers register increased from 43 patients prior to the meeting to 111 during the following year.
• The practice had then formed a committee to set up a memory café for people with dementia and their carers. Practice staff worked with the PPG, carers and patient volunteers to achieve this and the memory café began running for two hours every Monday in premises central to Bidford-on-Avon to ensure this was accessible to everyone affected by dementa rather than only those who were patients of the practice.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice