Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Newland Medical Practice on 9 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 with a named GP and there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
• Appointments were for a minimum of 15 minutes recognising increasing complexity of care needed for many patients.
• 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 sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
• The practice was piloting specialist paramedic training in conjunction with the South West Ambulance Service. The paramedic held clinics at the practice and the GP partners told us this had been received positively by patients.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

• One of the GPs provided a weekly session to two local residential independent schools, where many of the students were living away from home for the first time. The sessions held at the schools rather than at the practice were less disturbing to the students’ study and took place in an environment students felt safe in. The students were able to see same GP or practice nurse to build up a trust with them and the practice held team meetings with the schools, with input from school staff pastoral care, the schools’ matrons and teachers.

The area where the provider should make improvement is:

• Review the adequacy of the current fire alarm testing regime in terms of safety to patients, staff and visitors to the premises.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We used a number of different methods to help us understand the experiences of patients who used the service. We visited the practice. We reviewed records and systems and looked at the environment and how this impacted on the service delivery. We spoke with six patients who used the service.We spoke with a number of staff including the registered manager and clinicians.

Patients were satisfied with the care and treatment they received and told us they were treated with respect. One patient told us “I have always received an efficient service. I have confidence in my GP and I value their professional opinion”. Another patient said “I have had a period of ill health and have felt well supported by my GP. The advice and support has been first class”.

Staff had completed training in the protection of children.There was a lead person (GP) who took responsibility for the protection of vulnerable adults. They had completed training and were able to share this with staff. All of the staff we spoke with were able to describe the possible signs that abuse was occurring.The provider had suitable arrangements in place to ensure that staff received appropriate training to deliver care and treatment safely.

Recruitment policies and procedures were in place to protect patients.

The provider had systems in place to monitor the effectiveness and quality of the services being provided.