Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Fosse Medical Centre on 6 January 2015. 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 report incidents and near misses. All opportunities for learning from internal and external incidents were maximised.
• The practice used innovative and proactive methods to improve patient outcomes, working with other local providers to share best practice. For example this included the employment of a physiotherapist for seven hours a week in the practice. Therefore reducing the waiting times for appointments and resulting in patient’s ability to return to health and work sooner.
• Patients 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.
• The practice worked closely with other organisations and with the local community in planning how services were provided to ensure that they met people’s needs.

• The practice implemented suggestions for improvements and made changes to the way it delivered services as a consequence of feedback from patients and from the Patient Reference Group (PRG).

• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs. Information about how to complain was available and easy to understand
• The practice had a clear vision which had quality and safety as its top priority. A business plan was in place, was monitored and regularly reviewed and discussed with all staff. High standards were promoted and owned by all practice staff with evidence of team working across all roles.

We saw several areas of outstanding practice including:

• We found the practice had initiated positive service improvements for their patients that were over and above their contractual obligations. This included the employment of a physiotherapist for seven hours a week in the practice. Therefore reducing the waiting times for appointments and resulting in patient’s ability to return to health and work sooner.

• The practice noted the high admission rates to Accident & Emergency locally from East European patients and as a result they included information in a Polish newsletter for patients on when they should or should not attend A & E.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice