Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Hathaway Medical Partnership on 30 June 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.

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

• 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 well managed.
• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence-based guidance. Staff had 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.
• When there were unintended or unexpected safety incidents, patients received reasonable support, truthful information, a verbal and written apology and were told about any actions to improve processes to prevent the same thing happening again.
• The practice received a ‘Gold Standard Award’ from the Wiltshire Stop Smoking Service in 2015. This is the highest level award, which recognised that the practice exceeded its required annual target of patients who stopped smoking.
• A practice nurse had enrolled on an LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender/ Transsexual and Intersex) awareness course, to better meet the needs of these population groups. At the time of inspection, the practice supported eight patients with issues related to their gender identity.
• The practice is a registered location for the Breastfeeding Welcome Scheme, which aims to facilitate greater acceptance and promotion of breastfeeding.

The area where the provider should make improvement is:

• The provider should review arrangements for gathering patient feedback, including the effective use of the patient participation group, to help improve services.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

The practice also had a branch surgery at New Road. We visited The Hathaway Medical Centre and the New Road surgery. We spoke with patients who were visiting the surgeries. We also spoke with some of the patients over the telephone in order to ask for their view about the services they had received. We spoke with the practice manager, a GP, two practice nurses, a health care assistant and reception staff.

All of the people who we spoke with were complimentary about and satisfied with the care and treatment they received. People told us they had been involved in the decisions made about their treatment Comments included, "The nurses are wonderful, they listen to me and explain everything” another patient said “The doctor explains things in a way that I can understand. I come away feeling reassured”.

Patients told us that staff were respectful. One patient said "The doctor and all staff I have come into contact with have always been very polite, helpful and professional. It is basic good manners but I appreciate how I am dealt with”.

During our visit we saw staff at both sites interacting well, comforting people, speaking respectfully to them and working to meet their needs at all times. The staff we spoke with were knowledgeable about safeguarding vulnerable adults and children and staff had received training on this.

There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service provided and patients felt able to give feedback about the service they received.