Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr Keith Malone (Tudor Surgery) on 6 July 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.

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

• 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.
• 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.
• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• The practice implemented suggestions for improvements and made changes to the way it delivered services. This was done as a consequence of feedback from patients and from the patient participation group, for example the planned works to increase privacy in the reception area.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand. Complaints were dealt with effectively and were comprehensively documented.
• Patients said they sometimes found it difficult to make an appointment with a named GP; however 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 leadership team displayed innovation and continually strived to improve services to patients.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

• The practice had introduced an initiative to better involve patients in their own health. This involved contacting patients with chronic conditions and inviting them for consultations with the practice nurses, the first being 30 minutes to establish current health data. A report was then sent to the patient detailing the findings and any changes since the last data and a questionnaire about what the patient wished to achieve. There was then a second 40 minute appointment with the senior nurse to discuss the findings and identify ways to improve health.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• To review recruitment procedures to ensure all requisite documentation were recorded and retained.

• Ensure that verbal complaints are recorded and included in the complaint review process.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice