Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at the Dr Stephenson and Partners on 18 January 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 a highly effective system for reporting and recording significant events

• Risks to patients and staff were assessed and well managed.

• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. They had the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.

• The practice worked closely with other organisations and with the local community when planning how services were provided, to ensure patients’ needs were met.

• Patients’ emotional and social needs were seen as being as important as their physical needs, and there was a strong, visible, person-centred culture. Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and that they were involved in decisions about their treatment. The practice had signed up to the Dignity Code issued by the Pensioners Convention. (This Code sets out what staff should do in order to respect the dignity of older people.) Staff we spoke with were aware of this Code, and understood what they needed to do to comply with this on a day-to-day basis.

• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.

• Services were tailored to meet the needs of individual patients and were delivered in a way that ensured flexibility, choice and continuity of care. All staff were actively engaged in monitoring and improving quality and patient outcomes. Staff were highly committed to supporting patients to live healthier lives through a targeted and proactive approach to health promotion.

• The leadership, governance and management of the practice assured the delivery of high-quality person-centred care, supported learning, and promoted an open and fair culture. Staff had a clear vision and strategy for the development of the practice. All staff held leadership roles and had invested in the practice doing well.

We also saw areas of outstanding practice:

• The practice showed leadership across the local region. A number of clinical staff held key lead roles both within the local clinical commissioning group and the wider locality, and demonstrated their commitment to improving patient care by supporting new and innovative ways of working. For example, the practice had taken a lead role in producing a ‘Young Carers’ booklet in conjunction with the young carers at the Sunderland Carers Centre. As part of their commitment to improving services and outcomes for patients, the practice had played key roles in piloting new initiatives, for example, trialling changes in electronic laboratory reporting systems. This is outstanding because clinical staff are showing strong leadership in piloting new ways of working which have been adopted by other practices.

However, there was also an area where the provider needs to make improvements. The provider should:

• Continue to review and improve the practice’s telephone access and appointment system.

• Keep a record of any decisions they make in relation to obtaining satisfactory evidence of staff's conduct in previous periods of employment.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice