Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Hope House Surgery on 5 October 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. Significant events were reviewed every quarter to identify any themes or areas for learning. Any lessons learnt were shared effectively across all the staff teams.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well 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.
• The practice had introduced a wide range of recall checks into their clinical system to ensure that patients with any long term conditions or at risk of developing a long term conditions had regular care reviews.
• 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.
• The practice had a triage system to manage the demand on appointments, all patients had a named GP and there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
• The practice had a local agreement with a neighbouring practice to support each other in any times of staff shortage. We saw examples of GPs, nurses and administration and reception staff supporting each other in times of unexpected absences.

• The practice had a clear vision to deliver high quality care and facilitate improvement in the health of their patients by providing easily accessible high quality care and health education. The practice valued the whole team input and had a supportive ethos towards the whole team.

• 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.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice