Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of Hope Farm Medical Centre on 4 May 2016. The overall rating for the practice was Good. The full comprehensive report on the May 2016 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Hope Farm Medical Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

This inspection was a desk-based review carried out on 1 March 2017 to confirm that the practice had carried out the improvements that we identified as should be made in our previous inspection on 4 May 2016.

Overall the practice is rated as Good.

Our key findings were as follows:

The following improvements to the service had been made:

• The repeat prescribing protocol had been reviewed.

• The system for ensuring that learning was taken from significant events had been reviewed.

• A system had been introduced to record the receipt and allocation of printable prescriptions and to ensure all clinical equipment in GPs bags is regularly calibrated.

• A system had been put in place to ensure the regular replacement of all sharps boxes.

• The system in place for recording alerts to identify adults and children who are vulnerable and/or subject to safeguarding concerns, such as the deprivation of liberty safeguards (DoLS) had been reviewed.

The following improvement should be made:-

• The repeat prescribing protocol should include the action to be taken when a change is made to a patients repeat medication by another service such as the mental health team. The frequency of reviews of controlled drugs that are repeatedly prescribed and the checks GPs undertake prior to issuing and signing repeat prescriptions for controlled drugs.

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 Hope Farm Medical Centre on 4th May 2016.

Overall the practice is rated as good.

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

• There were systems in place to reduce risks to patient safety, for example, staff recruitment, the management of staffing levels and safety checks of the premises. We identified some areas where improvements should be made in relation to the safe management of equipment, record keeping and ensuring the repeat medication prescribing protocol is sufficiently robust to reduce the likelihood of errors occurring.
• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns and report incidents and near misses. Staff were aware of procedures for safeguarding patients from the risk of abuse.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance.

• Staff felt well supported. They had access to training and development opportunities and had received training appropriate to their roles.

• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in decisions about their care and treatment. We saw staff treated patients with kindness and respect.

• Services were planned and delivered to take into account the needs of different patient groups.

• Access to the service was monitored to ensure it met the needs of patients.

• Information about how to complain was available. There was a system in place to manage complaints.

• There were systems in place to monitor and improve quality and identify risk.

We saw areas of outstanding practice in how patients were supported:

• The practice was proactive in providing information to patients to assist them with social, emotional and practical support. The reception team had received training in signposting patients to a range of resources and there were specific staff who acted as links to dementia and caring services. There was also a patient buddy system in operation twice a week to help anyone who was struggling with any aspect of accessing the practice and needing assistance. For example, using the patient self-check in screen or help with registering for and using online services. The practice was proactive in identifying carers and referring them to appropriate support services. An award for best practice was awarded by the Carers Trust recognising the work being done to support patients who were carers. The practice had recently organised an event for Pets as Therapy to visit nursing home patients. The practice was also part of a project that offered patient peer coaching. Patients could be referred to this service where support was provided by patients who had undertaken training to enable them to support other patients with similar conditions. The practice in conjunction with the Patient Participation Group (PPG) had provided an educational event for patients about living with dementia.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Make the repeat prescribing protocol more robust to reduce the likelihood of errors occurring.

• The system for ensuring significant events are learned from and therefore not repeated should be reviewed.

• A record should be made of the receipt and allocation of printable prescriptions.

• Clinical equipment in GPs bags should be regularly calibrated.

• Put a system in place for the three monthly replacement of all sharps boxes.

• Review the system in place for recording alerts to identify adults and children who are vulnerable and/or subject to safeguarding concerns, such as the deprivation of liberty safeguards (DoLS).

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 of Hope Farm Medical Centre on 4 May 2016. The overall rating for the practice was Good. The full comprehensive report on the May 2016 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Hope Farm Medical Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

This inspection was a desk-based review carried out on 1 March 2017 to confirm that the practice had carried out the improvements that we identified as should be made in our previous inspection on 4 May 2016.

Overall the practice is rated as Good.

Our key findings were as follows:

The following improvements to the service had been made:

• The repeat prescribing protocol had been reviewed.

• The system for ensuring that learning was taken from significant events had been reviewed.

• A system had been introduced to record the receipt and allocation of printable prescriptions and to ensure all clinical equipment in GPs bags is regularly calibrated.

• A system had been put in place to ensure the regular replacement of all sharps boxes.

• The system in place for recording alerts to identify adults and children who are vulnerable and/or subject to safeguarding concerns, such as the deprivation of liberty safeguards (DoLS) had been reviewed.

The following improvement should be made:-

• The repeat prescribing protocol should include the action to be taken when a change is made to a patients repeat medication by another service such as the mental health team. The frequency of reviews of controlled drugs that are repeatedly prescribed and the checks GPs undertake prior to issuing and signing repeat prescriptions for controlled drugs.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice