Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Crofton and Sharlston Medical Practice on 6 October 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

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

• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses. Information about safety was recorded, monitored, appropriately reviewed and addressed.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance. Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and any further training needs had been identified and planned.

• 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.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP, since the telephone system had changed. There was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
• The main surgery and the branch surgery had good facilities and were well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management and partners. They proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.

We saw some areas of outstanding practice:

• Appointments were available for patients to book their flu vaccination online as well as in person or by telephone. Staff told us they used these appointments opportunistically to catch up with patients and check their blood pressure or perform other health checks.
• Practice nurses with a specialist interest in respiratory medicine kept thirty minutes appointment time free each day to review patients who had been started on new medications or treatments. They would contact the patient by telephone to review the new medication or treatment and provide advice and support. Patients told us this helped them manage their condition and provided the opportunity to ask questions without coming into the practice for an appointment.
• Every twelve weeks a diabetes consultant or diabetes specialist nurse from the hospital visited the practice to jointly see patients with the practice nurses or provide them with supervision or discuss new treatment guidelines.
• Practice nurses trained in the treatment of minor injuries offered some walk in appointments for patients with injuries which included gluing and suturing of wounds. These patients could be treated at the practice rather than attending the walk-in-centre which was five miles away.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Crofton and Sharlston Medical Practice is located in purpose built facilities in the villages of Crofton and Sharlston near Wakefield. As part of this inspection we visited both locations.

The patients we spoke with and those who completed the Care Quality Commissions (CQC) comment cards (25) at reception were very complimentary about the care provided by staff at the practice. Patients reported that staff always treated them with dignity and respect.

The buildings are well-maintained, clean and complied with the Equality Act. Systems were in place for the management of medication.

Clinical decisions followed best practice guidelines.

The leadership team were approachable and visible. We found appropriate governance and risk management measures in place.

The practice is registered with the CQC to deliver care under the following regulated activities: treatment of disease, disorder or injury, surgical procedures, maternity and midwifery services, diagnostic and screening procedures and family planning.

We reviewed the information available to us about Crofton and Sharlston Medical Practice on 26 April 2019. We did not find evidence of significant changes to the quality of service being provided since the last inspection. As a result, we decided not to inspect the surgery at this time. We will continue to monitor this information about this service throughout the year and may inspect the surgery when we see evidence of potential changes.