Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Hungerford Medical Centre on 11 October 2016. 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 report incidents and near misses. Significant events had been investigated and action had been taken as a result of the learning from events.
• Systems were in place to deal with medical emergencies and all staff were trained in basic life support.
• There were systems in place to reduce risks to patient safety. For example, infection control measures were carried out.
• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance.
• Feedback from patients about the clinical care and treatment they received was very positive.
• Data showed that outcomes for patients at this practice were similar to locally and nationally reported outcomes.
• Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Staff felt well supported in their roles and were kept up to date with appropriate training.
• Patients said they had confidence in the practice, were treated with dignity and respect and they were involved in decisions about their care and treatment.
• Overall, patients told us the appointments system was flexible and they could get an urgent appointment when they needed one. However, a proportion of patients told us they had difficulty in booking a routine appointment.
• The practice had good facilities, including disabled access. It was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• Information about services and how to complain was available. Complaints had been investigated and responded to in a thorough, sensitive and timely manner.
• The practice had a clear vision to provide a safe and high quality service.
• There was a clear leadership and staff structure and staff understood their roles and responsibilities.
• The practice provided a range of enhanced services to meet the needs of the local population.
• The practice sought patient views about improvements that could be made to the service. This included the practice having and consulting with their patient participation group (PPG).

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

• The comprehensive method of collating, managing and actioning safeguarding information.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Review the system for booking routine appointments.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice