Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of Dr Sumira on 6 October 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

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

• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns and report incidents and near misses. Incidents were investigated and where necessary changes made to prevent recurrences.
• Practice staff were proactive in utilising methods to improve patient outcomes, working with other local providers to share best practice.
• All patients spoken with said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment. Information was provided to help patients understand the care available to them.
• Practice staff worked closely with other organisations and with the local community in planning how services were provided to ensure that they meet people’s needs.
• The practice implemented suggestions for improvements and made changes to the way it delivered services as a consequence of feedback from patient who were represented by the Patient Participation Group (PPG). PPG’s work with practice staff in an effective way that may lead to improved services.
• The practice had a clear vision which concerned quality of patient care and safety as its priority. High standards were promoted by all practice staff with evidence of strong team working across all roles and good communications and relationships throughout.

We saw an area of outstanding practice:

• In conjunction with the other practice who shared the building, regular patient education evenings were arranged by practice staff and the PPG for patients to attend. For example, a presentation had been given by health professionals about diabetes and another for asthma. These events were advertised by sending out flyers to all patients.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

On the day of our inspection we spoke with five patients and with seven members of staff including GPs and the practice manager. All the patients were positive about their experiences with the service. One patient told us, “My whole family are registered here even though they are grown-up and left home now. I like it because it’s small and personal. I feel they know me and my family.”

We saw that care and treatment were planned and delivered in a way that met patient’s needs. One patient told us, “I am happy with the care. The doctor is very thorough and explains the options I have.”

We saw that care was delivered in a clean environment preventing the risk of infection to patients and staff. Patients confirmed they found the practice clean.

Staff received training in safeguarding (protecting vulnerable adults and children). They were aware of the appropriate agencies to refer any concerns to.

We saw evidence that staff were trained and supported to deliver care to an appropriate standard.

There were established quality monitoring systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of service that patients received. There were methods to obtain patient feedback and an active Patient Participation Group.