Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice​

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at East Harling and Kenninghall Medical Practice on 1 June 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.

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.
• The practice had a patient focused culture that ensured 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.
• Feedback from patients about their care was consistently positive. Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment. Data from the National GP Patient Survey published in January 2016 showed that patients rated the practice higher than others for several aspects of care.
• 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 well 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.

We saw several areas of outstanding practice:

• The practice worked alongside a local residential school for children with autism. The practice recognised that the clinical environment could be difficult for these patients, and liased with the school to find out how the process could be improved. The practice held a dedicated quieter time for these patients to attend appointments, and were in the process of collecting photographs of key staff to be given to the school to help students familiarise themselves with practice staff. Furthermore, the practice were undergoing personalised training from the school on how they can best meet the needs of the students.
• The practice had undertaken a two cycle audit on children who did not attend appointments, and developed a safeguarding risk assessment process for those who did not attend.
• The practice manager had participated in a study undertaken by Healthwatch Norfolk that examined how war veterans accessed primary care. This had led to the practice manager drafting their war veterans policy, which was then adopted by Healthwatch groups throughout the county.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice