Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Kirby-Crompton Health Centre

on 1 November 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 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 and where actions were identified these were used to improve patient outcomes. The practice used a book to record low level concerns. These concerns were investigated but details about outcomes were not formally recorded. The issues logged were not always low level 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.
• All staff employed by the practice had received a disclosure and barring check (DBS check). (DBS checks identify whether a person has a criminal record or is on an official list of people barred from working in roles where they may have contact with children or adults who may be vulnerable).
• The practice was IRIS (Identification and Referral to Improve Safety) approved and the GPs and staff were trained in domestic violence awareness.
• The practice had strong and visible clinical and managerial leadership and governance arrangements. 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 FRCGPChief Inspector of General Practice