This practice is rated as Good overall (Previous rating October 2015 Good)

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? - Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Kearsley Medical Centre on 6 November 2018 as part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

• The practice had systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes.
• The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• The practice should develop a formal process to carry out an infection control audit and ensure checks delegated to staff are carried out and documented, for example testing of the fire alarm.
• Review the system in place for monitoring the changes to patient’s medicines have been accurately processed by the pharmacy technician. Although a system was in place this could be more robust with additional checks to ensure the changes made were as instructed.
• The practice should have a clear pathway for clinical oversight of those patients automatically exception reported in QoF.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGPChief Inspector of General Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Kearsley Medical Centre on 8 October 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

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

• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns and to report incidents and near misses. Information about safety was recorded, monitored, appropriately reviewed and addressed.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed, including those relating to recruitment checks.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance. Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and any further training needs had been identified and planned.

• 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.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a 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.

We saw areas of outstanding practice including:

• Proactive case management for patients within care homes. One GP provides a clinic once a fortnight to work with care and nursing home staff to proactively manage patients care and treatment. This is in addition to regular reactive care provided by the practice. The impact of this work and the proactive involvement of clinicians at the practice resulted in a 37% reduction in unplanned hospital admissions over a 12 month period.
• The practice had developed a system to improve methods of communicating with vulnerable groups these included; sending letters on coloured paper or easy read letters incorporating pictorial prompts to help patients better understand the content.
• Following changes in GP training nationally, the practice took the opportunity to develop an innovative training post focusing on dementia diagnosis, assessment, care and treatment working alongside an older people psychiatrist. This post has enabled GP trainees to develop specialist skills in accessing and treating patients with dementia syndrome and raises awareness of dementia within the practice.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice