Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Ixworth Surgery on 5 December 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 which were discussed at monthly meetings.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed and comprehensive risk assessments had been carried out.
• 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 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.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

• The practice specialist respiratory nurse had developed a comprehensive personal asthma action plan and a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) plan to highlight to patients how to identify various stages of their condition including how to take their medication and whether intervention was required. Audits undertaken showed that performance was above average for the control of patients with asthma and COPD.In the adult asthma audit, 90% of the practice’s population of adult asthmatics demonstrated good control, compared to only 60% in other practices in the audit.

The area where the provider should make an improvement is:

• Continue to monitor diabetes data and respond to outlying figures to achieve improvements.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice