Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We inspected this service on 1 December 2014 as part of our new comprehensive inspection programme.

The overall rating for this practice is good. We found the practice to be good in all areas. We found the practice provided good care to all of their population groups including older people, patients with long term conditions, families, children and young people, working age people (including those recently retired and students), people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable and people experiencing poor mental health, including dementia.

Our key findings were as follows:

• Patients were kept safe because there were arrangements in place for staff to report and learn from key safety risks. The practice had a system in place for reporting, recording and monitoring significant events over time.
• People’s needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered in line with current legislation.
• Patients were generally satisfied with how they were treated and felt that staff treated them with compassion, dignity and respect.
• The practice had a well-established and well trained team who had expertise and experience in a wide range of health conditions.
• There was a transparent and inclusive culture at the practice which encouraged contributions from staff and patients in the development of the service.

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

• Review the system for reporting, recording and monitoring significant events to ensure that actions identified for learning or improvement, as a result of the significant event, are completed.

• Ensure that all nursing staff receive the appropriate level of training around safeguarding children in line with best practice recommendations
• Review the practice’s safeguarding policy to ensure it is aligned with the Inter-agency Adult Protection Procedures as developed by the local Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Adult Safeguarding Partnership.
• Review how prescriptions are managed, stored and disposed of, in conjunction with national best practice guidelines.

• Ensure all areas of risk in relation to health and safety are assessed and monitored.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice