This practice is rated as Good overall.

The key questions at this inspection are rated as:

Are services safe? – Requires improvement

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 Matlock Road Surgery on 9 November 2018 as part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

• 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.
• Feedback from patients about their experience of care within the practice was very positive.
• Childhood immunisation rates were high within the practice.
• The practice did not have emergency medicines in stock for the management of high blood sugar in patients with diabetes. However, this was sourced from a local pharmacy before the end of our inspection.
• The practice did not have processes in place for the control of all substances hazardous to health which were stored in the practice. For example, in relation to appropriate warning signs that medical gases were stored on the premises and that there was no mercury spill kit available despite there being a mercury sphygmomanometer kept on the premises. Action was taken in relation to both of these issues during the inspection.
• Printer prescriptions were not stored securely within the practice although there was a tracking system in operation for the use of prescriptions.
• There was no evidence of satisfactory information recorded into the conduct of locum GPs in a previous role and there was no recorded system to monitor the ongoing registration of nursing staff with the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
• Some blood specimen bottles kept in a cupboard in the nurses room had expired.

The areas where the provider must make improvements as they are in breach of regulations are:

• Care and treatment must be provided in a safe way for service users.
• Fit and proper persons must be employed.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Take further action to identify and support patients who are carers.
• Improve systems for proactively managing risk, including ongoing actions to mitigate the risk of the storage of hazardous materials.
• Review emergency medicines kept within the practice.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGPChief Inspector of General Practice

Please refer to the detailed report and the evidence tables for further information.