Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Orchard Surgery on 28 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 and near misses, and we saw evidence that learning was applied.

• The practice used proactive methods to improve patient outcomes. For example, education courses for patients with long term conditions such as diabetes and working with the local diabetes specialist nurse to improve the wellbeing of patients.

• There was easy access to appointments for patients with a range of appointments available including telephone consultations. The patient satisfaction with access was above average.

• Feedback from patients about their care was consistently positive. Data from the GP survey was consistently high and this included confidence in care provided by GPs and nurses.

• The practice planned and co-ordinated patient care with the wider multi-disciplinary team which included social services and Age UK, to deliver effective and responsive care to keep vulnerable patients safe. GPs were able to make direct referrals to these services and patients were made aware of the involvement of the services in discussing their care.
• The practice implemented suggestions for improvements and made changes to the way it delivered services as a consequence of feedback from patients and from the patient participation group (PPG).

• The practice actively reviewed complaints to see if there were any recurrent themes, and identified issues where learning could be applied to improve patient experiences in the future.

• The practice actively planned their care services to meet the needs of their student population by meeting with student coordinators before the start of the academic year to discuss the number of students expected to enrol at the nearby university campus, and offering student clinics on Wednesday afternoons to coincide with the students’ free period.

• The practice had a clear vision which had quality and safety as its top priority. The education ethos of the practice was clear in how they supported all staff development, their training of doctors and leading in workforce development in their local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
• The practice had strong and visible clinical and managerial leadership and governance arrangements, and staff told us that they were well-supported and felt valued by the partners.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice