Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Peel Croft Surgery on 16 May 2016. Overall the practice is rated as Outstanding.

Please note that when referring to information throughout this report, for example any reference to the Quality and Outcomes Framework data, this relates to the most recent information available to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) at that time.

Our key findings were as follows:

• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns and to report incidents and near misses. Information about safety was recorded, monitored, reviewed and addressed.
• Risks to patients and staff were comprehensively assessed and well managed.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance. Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and any further training needs had been identified and planned.
• Patients spoke of a very high level of service that was supported by a large quantity of complimentary written patient feedback from 318 patients out of a list size of 3,250. The national GP patient survey scored the practice in the top 4% of practices in England.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
• Patients told us they could get an appointment when they needed one. Urgent appointments were available the same day.
• The practice had achieved an overall 23% reduction in accident and emergency attendances and hospital admissions.
• The GPs and practice manager have pioneered the co-location of counselling services to allow patients to be seen at the practice.
• The practice had adopted a proactive approach to monitor patients at risk of some long term conditions such as diabetes.
• 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, patients and third party organisations, which it acted on.
• The practice evidenced a strong culture of education and learning that provided positive outcomes for patients.

We saw a number of areas of outstanding practice:

• The practice used a system to detect patients that could be victims of human trafficking that had identified nine cases that have been referred to the health visitor since October 2013.
• The practice provided outreach services for vulnerable groups of patients.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice