Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this practice on 11 October 2016. We set a requirement in relation to safe care and treatment. The practice sent in an action plan informing us about what they would do to meet legal requirements in relation to the following;

• The systems and processes to address risk were not robust enough to ensure patients were kept safe. The practice must comply with relevant Patient Safety Alerts issued from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and through the Central Alerting System.

During the initial inspection we also found areas where improvements should be made:

• Develop a system to proactively identify carers.
• Ensure annual reviews are completed for patients on the learning disability register.
• Improve access for routine appointments for patients.
• Ensure lessons learned from significant events are communicated widely throughout the practice.
• Proactively monitor required improvements to deliver better outcome for patients.

The practice told us these issues were addressed and have provided us with evidence to show they had taken the action to address the concerns.

We undertook a desk top review on 31 January 2017 to make a judgement about whether their actions had addressed the requirements.

The overall rating for the practice is good. You can read our previous report by selecting the ‘all reports' link for on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

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 Grove Medical Centre on 11 October 2016. Overall the practice is rated as requires improvement.

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

• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and the practice had systems in place for reporting and recording significant events.
• Although risks to patients who used services were assessed, the systems and processes to address these risks were not robust enough to ensure patients were kept safe. For example, patient safety alerts were logged and shared however data searches were not completed to identify patients at risk.
• There was scope to improve how carers were identified.
• There was potential for the practice to proactively support and encourage more patients with a learning disability to attend an annual health review.
• 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 did not find it easy to make an appointment in advance with their preferred GP however urgent appointments were 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 must make improvements are:

• Comply with relevant Patient Safety Alerts issued from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and through the Central Alerting System.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Develop a system to proactively identify carers.
• Ensure annual reviews are completed for patients on the learning disability register.
• Improve access for routine appointments for patients.
• Ensure lessons learned from significant events are communicated widely throughout the practice.
• Proactively monitor required improvements to deliver better outcome for patients.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice