Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at New Southgate Surgery on 14 June 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 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 areas of outstanding practice:

• The practice offered a specialist diabetes service which included insulin initiation and advanced care planning. In addition for those with more complex needs the practice hosted a diabetic clinicfour to six times a year with a specialist diabetes consultant. This reduced the need for those patients to attend secondary care.

• The practice had recently supported two open days organised and run by the Patient Participation Group (PPG) in conjunction with local voluntary groups to raise awareness amongst practice patients of issues such as diabetes, dementia and stroke and highlighted support that patients could access. These events had been popular with patients and feedback to both the practice and PPG was very positive.

The was one area where the provider should make an improvement:

• The practice needed to ensure that all staff members were aware of the location of emergency equipment such as the defibrillator, oxygen and emergency medicines within the building.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

New Southgate Surgery is purpose built and is close to the centre of Wakefield.

The practice is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to provide the following regulated activities: diagnostic and screening procedures; family planning; maternity and midwifery services; surgical procedures and treatment of disease, disorder and injury. Patients told us they were happy with the care and treatment they received and that they felt safe. Clinical decisions are considered in line with best practice guidance.

There are effective systems in place to ensure the service is delivered to all  patients in a way that meets their needs. There is good collaborative working between the practice and other health and social care agencies which helps to ensure patients receive the best outcomes from their treatment.  There are appropriate governance and risk management measures in place.

Systems are in place for medicines management.

The leadership team are reported to be approachable and visible.

The building is clean and well-maintained and is compliant with the Equality Act 2010.

We currently review six population groups at all inspections, the detail of which can be found after the summary in this report. The needs of these population groups are identified by the practice and systems are in place to improve their access to care.