Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at the Mount Group Practice on 26 April 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

We saw four areas of outstanding practice:

• The practice had a contract with a local taxi firm, approved for healthcare use by the CCG, to offer paid for transport to those who could not get to the practice by their own means. This was beneficial to patients as more appointments were available at a time convenient to them.

• A GP partner and practice nurse, both with a specialist interest in diabetes management, established a clinic for patients with complex diabetes. In the past two years 23 patients attending the clinic demonstrated an average 25% reduction in the measurement of the the amount of glucose within their plasma blood cells. A reduction in this measurement lowers diabetes risk factors in patients.

• The GPs performed a weekly visit to the three care homes with residents registered at the practice. A recent evaluation of the service demonstrated a reduction in unplanned activity, such as visits to accident and emergency and improved advanced care planning. The prescribing assistant worked closely with the homes to reduce medicine wastage and facilitate the ease of obtaining prescriptions electronically for the residents.
• The practice liaised with a local voluntary service to provide access to healthcare for asylum seekers and refugees. People who used the practice from this service told us the practice was welcoming and treated them as individuals.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP 

Chief Inspector of General Practice