Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

Brown Clee Medical Centre is comprised of two locations - the main practice at Ditton Priors, Bridgnorth, and a branch location in Stottesdon. We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Ditton Priors and visited the dispensary at Stottesdon on 10 June 2015. Overall Brown Clee Medical Centre is rated as outstanding.

Specifically, we found the practice to be outstanding in caring and responsive and good for providing safe, effective, and well-led services. It was also outstanding in providing caring and responsive services for older people, families, children and young people and people whose circumstances make them vulnerable.  

Our key findings were as follows:

• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment. Information was provided to help patients understand the care available to them.
• The practice worked closely with other organisations and with the local community in planning how services were provided to ensure they met patients’ needs.
• The practice implemented suggestions for improvements and made changes to the way it delivered services as a consequence of feedback from patients and from the Patient Participation Group (PPG).
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs. Information about how to complain was available and easy to understand
• The practice had a clear vision which had quality and safety as its top priority. A business plan and strategy was in place, was monitored and regularly reviewed and discussed with all staff. High standards were promoted and owned by all practice staff with evidence of team working across all roles.
• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns and report incidents and near misses. All opportunities for learning from internal and external incidents were maximised.

We saw several areas of outstanding practice including:

• The practice had increased the flexibility of access to appointments and could demonstrate the impact of this by reduced use of accident and emergency facilities and the out-of-hours service, and positive patient survey results.
• The practice had reached out to the local community by supporting people with learning disabilities who attended a local farm and a children’s adventure group should the need arise, for minor illness. The practice also supported the local church initiatives, for example in delivering food bank packages.
• The practice funded and facilitated a walking for health group at the local village hall.
• The practice funded physiotherapy, chiropody, a meditation group for mindfulness sessions and a counsellor for its registered population.
• The practice provided weekly comfort visits as well as appointments and home visits to patients residing at three local care homes.
• The practice worked with the local CCG in accepting patients who may be experiencing difficulties in registering with other practices for a variety of reasons, whose circumstances may make them vulnerable.

However, there were also areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.

The provider should:

• Complete an Infection and Prevention Control audit.
• Ensure that the practice maintains appropriate recruitment records and introduce systems to verify staff registration with their appropriate professional bodies.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice