Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Meltham Road Surgery on 25 July 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.
• Families suffering bereavement were offered a home visit and directed to support from local support services.
• 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.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and there was continuity of care, with same day telephone call backs and urgent appointments available the same day.
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs. Services offered included an anticoagulation clinic for people needing regular blood checks and an in-house audiology (hearing) clinic managed by a practice nurse.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt highly supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
• Communication was promoted through a regular newsletter.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Review their recruitment arrangements to assure themselves that all necessary employment checks are completed for all staff prior to them commencing employment with the practice.

• Review their infection prevention and control policy to assure themselves that risks are assessed and necessary safeguards are implemented.

• Review their rate of clinical exception reporting to assure themselves that all reporting is in line with nationally agreed exception reporting criteria.

• Review their business continuity plan to assure themselves that all necessary contingencies have been considered.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We reviewed the information available to us about Meltham Road Surgery on 15 June 2019. We did not find evidence of significant changes to the quality of service being provided since the last inspection. As a result, we decided not to inspect the surgery at this time. We will continue to monitor this information about this service throughout the year and may inspect the surgery when we see evidence of potential changes.