We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr Andrew Thornett (known as Blackwood Health Centre) on 5 February 2019 as part of our inspection programme.

We based our judgement of the quality of care at this service on a combination of:

• what we found when we inspected
• information from our ongoing monitoring of data about services and
• information from the provider, patients, the public and other organisations.

We have rated this practice as good overall and good for all population groups except people with long term conditions, which was rated requires improvement.

We found that:

• The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
• Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
• Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
• The practice organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
• The practice had reviewed the working arrangements for the GPs. This enabled the principle GP to undertake home visits during the afternoon, as well as any telephone calls and review of any correspondence and results.
• The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.

We rated the practice as requires improvement for people with long-term conditions because:

• The practice performance in relation to patients who had an asthma review remained the same at this point when compared to previous year.

Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:

• Record the serial numbers of prescriptions on receipt to and distribution around the practice.
• Organise and carry out regular fire drills.
• Develop a significant incident policy and procedure.
• Record the full immunisation status for all staff.
• Implement the requirements of the Assessible Information Standard.
• Ensure all staff are aware of the location of and the contents of the business continuity plan.
• Act on the recommendations made in the infection control audit.
• Follow their own complaints policy.

Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGPChief Inspector of General Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We inspected this service as part of our new comprehensive inspection programme. This provider had not been inspected before and that was why we included them. We carried out an announced visit on 27 October 2014. Our overall rating for the practice was good.

We found that the practice was safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. We rated the practice overall as good.

Our key findings were as follows:

• There were systems in place to ensure patients received a safe service.

• The practice had effective procedures in place that ensured care and treatment was delivered in line with appropriate standards. We looked at data which showed that the practice was performing similarly to national average for management of long term conditions.

• The practice was caring. Patients were treated with dignity and respect. Patients spoke very positively of their experiences and of the care and treatment provided by staff.

• The practice was responsive to patients’ needs and provided services that reflected the needs of the patients.

• We found that the service was well led with well-established leadership roles and responsibilities with clear lines of accountability.

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

• All staff acting as chaperones should undergo the DBS checking which the practice told us would be undertaken following our inspection.

• The practice should carry out its own infection control audit as per the practices’ own policy.

• The practice should get confirmation from the landlord of that the water system has been tested for legionella.

• All policies should be regularly reviewed and updated.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice