Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection July 2015 – Good)

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Requires Improvement

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? - Good

As part of our inspection process, we also look at the quality of care for specific population groups. The population groups are rated as:

Older People – Good

People with long-term conditions – Good

Families, children and young people – Good

Working age people (including those recently retired and students – Good

People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable – Good

People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia) - Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Lake Road Practice on 7 March 2018 as part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

• The practice had clear 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 practice used an Electronic Frailty Index for patients over 65 years to help identify and predict risks for older patients in primary care. Patients identified as living with severe frailty were also reviewed every month at multi-disciplinary meetings in order to co-ordinate care to meet individual needs and to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions.

• The practice used a text message system to remind patients of appointments.

• The practice had ‘dementia friendly’ status which they achieved by ensuring all staff had undertaken dementia training. Modifications had been made to the signs to help patients living with dementia find their way around the location more easily.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Review processes for supporting patients with learning disabilities to attend annual health check appointments.

• Review processes for identifying patients who are also carers.

• Review systems for identifying future learning needs for nurses and effective appraisals for staff.

• Review patient survey data regarding patients being able to get through to the practice easily by phone, to improve patient satisfaction.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out a comprehensive inspection at Dr Robinson and Partners, also known as Lake Road Practice, on 6 January 2015. We have rated the practice as good overall. The practice delivered effective care and treatment to its patients. There was a clear vision and strategy which outlined planning objectives for the sustainability of the service in the future. Staff took an active role in the planning and delivery of the service. We saw a clear management structure in place and monitoring which supported the service to run smoothly Dr Robinson and Partners is a training practice for doctors to become GPs.

Our key findings were as follows:

• The practice was clean, well maintained and there were systems in place to maintain appropriate standards of cleanliness and hygiene.
• Patient’s access requirements were taken into account when services were planned and delivered. These included availability of appointments outside working hours and physical access for disabled patients.
• GPs and nurses received appropriate training and professional development supervision and training.
• Patients rated the practice above the national average for getting to speak with their preferred GP; their GP was good at involving them in decisions about their care and the helpfulness of receptionists.
• The practice regularly assessed and monitored the quality of its services and actions were taken to improve there when necessary.

However, there were also areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements. Importantly, the provider must:

• Ensure medical devices used to administer care and treatment is monitored to ensure it is available and fit for purpose such as within use by date for sterile items.

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 focused inspection of Dr Robinson and Partners on 2 July 2015.

We carried out this inspection to check the processes in place for the management of emergency medicines only.

For this reason we have only rated the location for the key question to which this relates.

We found the practice had effective procedures and processes in place for the management of emergency medicines.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice