Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Gables Surgery on 27 October 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.

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

• A new GP partnership had been formed which was taking the practice forward on a secure footing.

• Much of the governance framework for the practice was in place and the GP partnership was establishing a programme of continuous clinical audit to monitor and improve quality further. This however was not yet in place.

• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.

• Risks to patients were assessed and 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.
• 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. 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 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.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Make available proof of identity including a recent photograph for recruitment files.

• Complete two-cycle clinical audits to drive improvement in the quality of care.

• Formalise the identification and recording of patients who are carers so that all carers are offered support.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Gables Surgery on 27 October 2016. The overall rating for the practice was good but specifically requiring improvement in the provision of effective services. The full comprehensive report on the October 2016 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Gables Surgery on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

This inspection was an announced focused inspection carried out on 30 August 2017 to check that improvements had been made since our previous inspection on 27 October 2016. This report covers our findings in relation to those improvements made since our last inspection.

Overall the practice is rated as good and the provision of effective services is now also rated as good.

Our key findings were as follows:

• Clinical audits were examined and proof of second cycle audits were seen.

As part of the inspection on 27 October the practice was advised that they should make available proof of identity including a recent photograph for recruitment files and formalise the identification and recording of patients who are carers so that all carers are offered support. During our inspection on 30 August 2017 we saw evidence that the recruitment process for all staff had been reviewed and that proof of identity checks are being carried out with photographic identification now being held on file. The practice was also able to demonstrate that it was more proactive in the identification of carers and that it had now increased the number of identified carers from 12 to 44. This represented 1.2% of the practice list and, whilst still fairly low, the practice was able to demonstrate plans to increase that figure still further.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice