Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Drs J M Pilpel & V C Tiguti on 6 February 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

We found the practice to be good for providing safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led services. It was also good for providing services for older people, people with long-term conditions, families, children and young people, working age people, people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable and people experiencing poor mental health.

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

• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses. Information about safety was recorded, monitored, appropriately reviewed and addressed.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance. Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and any further training needs had been identified and planned.
• 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.
• 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 patients, which it acted on.

However there were areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.

Importantly the provider should:

• Introduce a system to check that GP prescription pads used for home visits are tracked through the practice.
• Ensure that they follow their own standard operating procedures in the receiving of and dispensing of controlled drugs.
• Introduce regular staff meetings to support and involve staff.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice