Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Parkside Medical Practice on 1 March 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.

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

• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events, but the outcomes from these were not always documented and shared.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• GP Patient survey results showed that patients did not always feel that they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and involved in their care and decisions about their treatment and it was difficult to make an appointment with a named GP. The practice was aware of this and had taken steps to improve patient outcomes.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
• Urgent appointments were 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 upon. The practice was in the process of making significant changes to meet patient’s needs.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

The practice should continue to review the results of patient satisfaction surveys and ensure that it can meet the needs of the patient population in the future and improve outcomes.

The practice should ensure that outcomes from significant events are documented and shared with the staff team.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We observed staff speaking with people on the telephone and in person. We saw staff were friendly and polite and offered choices to patients. We found that people who used the service were treated with dignity and respect.

People who used the service were protected against the risk of abuse. Staff received training in abuse awareness and protecting children and vulnerable adults every six months. The policies and procedures were available to all staff in relation to safeguarding.

We found people were protected from the risk of infection as treatment was delivered in a clean and hygienic environment.

There were effective recruitment and selection processes in place.

There was an effective complaints system in place. Complaints people made were responded to appropriately.

We reviewed the information available to us about Parkside Medical Practice, Horton Park Centre on 4 May 2019. We did not find evidence of significant changes to the quality of service being provided since the last inspection. As a result, we decided not to inspect the surgery at this time. We will continue to monitor this information about this service throughout the year and may inspect the surgery when we see evidence of potential changes.