We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr Evans & Partners which provides clinical services from two sites; Florence Road the main surgery and the branch surgery at Bramley Road, which are both situated in the London Borough of Ealing. We visited both of these locations as part of the inspection on 29 February 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.

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

• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.

• The practice had a dedicated clinical pharmacy team that ensured robust processes in place for repeat prescription management.

• 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 said staff were caring, supportive, and friendly and treated them with dignity and respect.

• 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.
• 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.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. 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.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels.

We saw areas of outstanding practice:

• Clinical pharmacist expertise to support GPs in the management of patients with chronic disease and elderly patient care. Attendance by the clinical pharmacist at local nursing home ward rounds had contributed to a 91% reduction of medication errors.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Ensure that DBS checks are completed for all staff who may be required to undertake chaperone duties.

• Ensure that fridge temperature monitoring records are complete.

• Complete annual staff appraisals for administration staff.

• Ensure administrative staff attend basic life support training in accordance with national guidance.

• Improve vaccine stock records with inclusion of expiry dates and running stock totals.

• Implement proposed procedures to identify carers to ensure they are provided with support.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We spoke with six people using the service, three GP’s, the practice manager, nurses and administrative staff working in the practice. The people we spoke with all told us they were very happy with the services they received. One person told us “I’ve always had a good experience. They take time to listen and really care about getting it right.” A second person said “they always ask about what I want and what’s important to me.”

We saw people were given the information they needed to make decisions about their care and treatment.

Staff working in the practice understood the local arrangements for safeguarding children and adults using the service and had been trained to recognise possible abuse.

The provider carried out checks to make sure staff were suitable to work with people using the service. However, there was a need to make sure that checks were completed for all staff.

The provider had procedures for monitoring the standards of care and treatment provided. A Patient Participation Group worked with the partners to monitor and improve services.