Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Meadow Dale Group Practice on 14 April 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Specifically, we found the practice to be good for providing safe, well-led, effective, caring and responsive services. It was also rated as good for providing services for all population groups.

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.
• 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 was available and easy to understand.
• Patients said they found the appointment system very accessible.
• 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.

There were areas of outstanding practice.

• We found there were outstanding processes in place to manage incidents. Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns and to report incidents and near misses and they had received training in this area. Detailed policies and procedures were in place to support practice. Incidents were recorded electronically and monitored for patterns and trends at local, regional and national level. Lessons were learned and communicated widely to support improvement.
• We found there were outstanding processes in place for the management of medicines. Detailed procedures were in place for all aspects relating management of medicines and clinical staff had received medicines management training. Detailed audit processes were in place to monitor medicines and compliance with policies and procedures. There were systems in place which ensured GPs had time to review repeat prescriptions.
• We found there were outstanding governance systems in place. The practice had a clear vision and strategy and this was embedded in aspects of practice. Staff were clear about the vision and their responsibilities in relation to this. There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management both at the practice and regionally. The practice had a number of detailed policies and procedures to govern activity and held regular governance meetings. There were systems in place to monitor and improve quality and identify risk.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice