Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Florence House Medical Practice on 11th June 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good. Specifically, we found the practice to be good for providing safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led services. Services for the population groups were also 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, reviewed and addressed appropriately.
• Systems to assess and manage patient safety and effectiveness were appropriate with the exception of those to identify and recall patients who did not attend for follow up appointments.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance.
• Staff received adequate support and training appropriate to their roles as well as additional support and training which enabled them to progress in their roles and in their careers.
• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs. A discharge co-ordinator/cancer champion and a carer support group was available for patients who could benefit from this service.
• The practice had a high percentage of asylum seekers who received appropriate advice, care and treatment.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
• Some patients said they found it difficult to make an appointment with a named GP in a timely manner. However they said there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
• The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
• There was a newly embedded leadership structure and staff felt very supported by management. There was a family-orientated ethos which was emulated by all the staff.

We saw some areas of outstanding practice including:

• The practice ran a bi-monthly carer support group which brought carers together for support and discussion. Members of the group reported the positive impact on their lives.
• The practice established “Singing for the Brain”; a weekly singing session to help patients with memory problems and dementia. This was run by a singing music therapist offered to patients from other local practices.

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

The provider should:

• Introduce an effective system to identify and recall patients who do not attend for scheduled and follow up appointments such as health checks, repeat blood tests, cervical smears and immunisations.

• Review and introduce an effective system to show that all information required, in line with legislation, is available in respect of each person employed.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We reviewed the information available to us about Florence House Medical Practice on 22 May 2019. We did not find evidence of significant changes to the quality of service being provided since the last inspection. As a result, we decided not to inspect the surgery at this time. We will continue to monitor this information about this service throughout the year and may inspect the surgery when we see evidence of potential changes.