Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at the practice of Dr George Bhima on 27 April 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.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well 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 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. 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.
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• 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.

We saw areas of outstanding practice

The GP carried out follow up home visits at weekends and bank holidays to those patients that were ill and/or vulnerable who would benefit from a visit.

When the surgery was due to be closed for bank holidays the practice contacted all patients over the age of 75 to ask if they had enough medication and offered a call from the GP.

However there was one area where the practice should make improvements:

The practice should complete the task of obtaining DBS checks for those staff acting as chaperones.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We reviewed the information available to us about Dr George Bhima on 4 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.