Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr Moss and Partners on 19 July 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good. We only visited the main surgery on Kings Road in Harrogate on this occasion.

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.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

During the inspection of this practice, we spoke with patients, two doctors who worked at the practice, the practice manager, operations manager and a selection of other staff such as nurses and receptionists.

We talked to some patients and asked about their experiences when visiting the practice. They told us they were satisfied with the care, support and advice they had received. One patient said “It is a very good practice. The doctors are extremely good. I am never made to feel rushed during a consultation”. Another said “Absolutely fabulous, I know I am always going to get seen by the doctor when I am poorly. I have nothing but praise for the service I receive. Staff are always polite and very helpful.” Two people commented to us about the appointments and treatment regarding travel vaccines. Although both were satisfied overall there was some negative comments made around the availability of some travel vaccines and the quality of the information and advice they had received.

We observed the experiences of patients who used the service. We saw that staff interacted and communicated well with people. When we looked around the practice we found that it was clean and tidy.

We found that patients were safeguarded against the risk of abuse.

We saw that effective systems were in place to deal with any complaints made about the practice.

The practice was compliant in all of the outcome areas we looked at during this inspection.