Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection in January 2016– Good)

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe – Good

Are services effective – Good

Are services caring – Good

Are services responsive – Good

Are services well-led - Good

As part of our inspection process, we also look at the quality of care for specific population groups. The population groups are rated as:

Older People – Good

People with long-term conditions – Good

Families, children and young people – Good

Working age people (including those recently retired and students – Good

People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable – Good

People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia) - Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Newton Medical Centre on 1 November 2017 to check that action had been taken to comply with the requirement notice we served for regulation 12 (Safe Care) and regulation 19 (Fit and Proper Person Employed) at our last inspection in January 2016.

At this inspection we found:

• The practice had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes.
• The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Review processes to improve children’s immunisation uptake.
• Ensure patients with caring responsibilities are proactively identified and supported.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection in January 2016– Good)

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe – Good

Are services effective – Good

Are services caring – Good

Are services responsive – Good

Are services well-led - Good

As part of our inspection process, we also look at the quality of care for specific population groups. The population groups are rated as:

Older People – Good

People with long-term conditions – Good

Families, children and young people – Good

Working age people (including those recently retired and students – Good

People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable – Good

People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia) - Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Newton Medical Centre on 1 November 2017 to check that action had been taken to comply with the requirement notice we served for regulation 12 (Safe Care) and regulation 19 (Fit and Proper Person Employed) at our last inspection in January 2016.

At this inspection we found:

• The practice had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes.
• The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Review processes to improve children’s immunisation uptake.
• Ensure patients with caring responsibilities are proactively identified and supported.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We spoke with three patients during our visit. All patients were satisfied with the service they received. One patient said they "cannot fault the surgery or the staff’." Two patients stated that their GP gave them choices and information and one patient stated that she always felt involved in her own care. People's needs were assessed and their care was planned in a way to ensure their safety and welfare.

There was a procedure for dealing with medical emergencies and emergency equipment was available.

Patients were protected from the risk of abuse, because the provider had taken reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening.

There were suitable systems in place to monitor the quality of service people received. We looked at people's comments on the NHS Choices website. We saw that all comments had been reviewed by the provider. The annual patient survey was available on the practice website and there was also a link to the NHS Choices website as well as information on joining the Patient Participation Group (PPG).