Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Parkwood Surgery on 22 November 2016. The overall rating for this practice was good with the practice rated as requires improvement for safe as breaches of legal requirements were found. After the comprehensive inspection, the practice wrote to us and submitted an action plan outlining the actions they would take to meet legal requirements in relation to;

• Regulation 12 Health & Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 – safe care and treatment.

From the inspection on 22 November 2016, the practice were told they must:

• Ensure that appropriate infection control standards are maintained in all areas of the practice to reduce risks to patients and staff including infection control auditing.

In addition, the practice were told they should:

• Continue to monitor and support patients with caring responsibilities.

The full comprehensive report on the inspection carried out in November 2016 can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Parkwood Surgery on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

This inspection was an announced focused inspection carried out on 20 June 2017 to confirm that the practice had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breaches in regulation that we identified in our previous inspection on 22 November 2016. This report covers our findings in relation to those requirements and also additional improvements made since our last inspection.

Overall the practice is now rated as good.

Our key findings were as follows:

• The practice had assigned infection control responsibilities to a suitably trained and competent person.
• Appropriate standards of infection control were maintained throughout the building and improvements had been made to areas previously identified as of concern.
• The practice had been proactive in seeking support and guidance on infection control requirements from appropriate professionals. They had also provided additional training to staff to ensure new protocols were understood.
• The practice had developed systems to identify and support carers within their population. The practice had identified 315 patients as carers (approximately 1.8% of the total patient list) and had been awarded the Carer’s Gold Standard Award by the Herts Valley Clinical Commissioning Group for the work they had done to support carers. We saw that the practice had successfully established a walking group for patients; including carers and their dependants.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Parkwood Surgery on 22 November 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.
• The majority of risks to patients were assessed and well managed, however improvements needed to be made to managing risks associated with infection control.
• 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.
• In collaboration with the PPG, the practice facilitated patient education evenings twice a year led by a member of the clinical team or a guest speaker. These sessions were used as an opportunity to provide information on specific health topics, such as dementia
• 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 on.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

• The practice was involved in a national pilot programme to provide services to patients identified as pre-diabetic. The programme aimed to provide patients identified as at risk of developing diabetes with access to a health education programme to reduce the risk of them developing diabetes. The practice was one of only seven practices in the country partaking in the pilot and at the time of our inspection had contacted 300 patients to invite them to join the programme. In addition, following a patient education evening on dementia, the practice expanded training for staff to ensure they understood how to support patients with mental health needs and dementia.

The area where the provider must make improvement is:

• Ensure that appropriate infection control standards are maintained in all areas of the practice to reduce risks to patients and staff including infection control auditing.

In addition the provider should:

• Continue to monitor and support patients with caring responsibilities.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice