Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Ombersley Medical Centre on 30 September 2016. The practice is rated as outstanding for the caring and responsive domains and good for all other domains. The overall rating for this service is outstanding.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

• The practice was aware of and provided services according to the needs of their patient population.
• Processes and procedures kept patients safe. This included a system for reporting and recording significant events, keeping these under review and sharing learning where this occurred.
• Patients told us they were treated with dignity and respect and that they were fully involved in decisions about their care and treatment.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand. Patients told us that they knew how to complain if they needed to.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff told us they felt supported by management.
• The practice proactively sought feedback from patients, which it acted on.
• The practice had an active Patient Participation Group (PPG). The PPG were proactive in representing patients and assisted the practice in making improvements to the services provided.
• Staff received regular training and skill updates to ensure they had the appropriate skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Regular meetings and discussions were held with staff and multi-disciplinary teams to ensure patients received the best care and treatment in a coordinated way.
• Staff appeared motivated to deliver high standards of care and there was evidence of team working throughout the practice.
• The practice was aware of the requirements of the duty of candour and systems ensured compliance with this.
• There was a culture of openness and accountability.

We saw areas of outstanding practice which included:

• The practice had identified a large number of carers within their patient population, with 247 carers registered (6% of the practice population). They worked holistically to identify and support carers which included all members of the practice team and the integrated care team. This holistic approach had seen an increase in the numbers of carers identified within the patient list from 2% to 6% over the last five years.

• The practice had reviewed the building environment to make this more dementia friendly for patients. For example, clear signage had been introduced in the reception area, picture cards were available to use with patients to help them communicate and a suitable clock had been installed in the reception area that indicated the day and date.
• Results from the National GP Patient Survey published in July 2016 showed that patients’ satisfaction with services provided by the practice was significantly higher than local and national levels.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice