Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dalton Surgery on 7 September 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.

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

• The practice had processes in place for recording significant events. Learning from these events was shared during clinical governance meetings which were held eight weekly. An informal discussion was held at the time of any significant event and plans put into place to carry out any required actions. Staff told us the practice encouraged the reporting of significant events.
• Risks to patients were assessed and 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 told us they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment. We saw that one of the consulting rooms did not provide privacy curtains or screening.
• 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. We saw that letters responding to complaints did not contain full details of action taken as a result of the complaint. The letter did not include details of the NHS Parliamentary Ombudsman.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
• The practice had limitations with regard to their premises.Staff told us their workloads were increasing due to a recent influx of patients from nearby practices which had closed. However they made the best use possible of the facilities available to them.
• Staff told us they felt supported by the GP partners and practice manager. 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 improvements are:

• Improve their documentation to reflect more fully how complaints are dealt with in the practice.

• Review the arrangements for cleaning fabric privacy curtains in consulting rooms in line with national patient safety agency (NPSA) guidance.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice