Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Practice 1, Medical Centre, Bridlington on 20 October 2017. 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 a system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
• The practice had clearly defined and embedded systems to minimise risks to patient safety.
• Staff were aware of current evidence based guidance. Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills and knowledge to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Results from the national GP patient survey showed patients were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and 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 told us they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments 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 on.

• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour. (The duty of candour is a set of specific legal requirements that providers of services must follow when things go wrong with care and treatment).

There were areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.

Importantly the provider should:

• Include review dates, actions required and who was responsible for ensuring actions were completed in significant events analysis (SEA) and complaint investigations.

• Monitor the use of smartcards to confirm staff were following national guidance.

• Monitor that recruitment checks are carried out in line with the practice policy.

• Review the clinical audit programme to support the planning and completion of audit and quality monitoring cycles.

• Improve the system for identifying carers.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out this comprehensive inspection on 22 June 2015.

Overall, we rated this practice as good. We found the practice to be good for providing well-led, effective, caring, safe and responsive services. It was also good for providing services for the all of the population groups we looked at.

Our key findings were as follows:

• The practice provided a good standard of care, led by current best practice guidelines.

• Patients told us they were treated with dignity and respect and patient satisfaction levels were high.

• The practice performed well in the management of long term conditions and was proactive in offering review and screening services.

• Patients could access appointments without difficulty and were happy with the telephone and repeat prescribing systems.

• The building was safe for patients to access, with sufficient facilities and equipment to provide safe effective services.

• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns and to report incidents and near misses.

However there are also areas were the provider needs make improvements. The provider should:

• Improve on structured meetings for all staff

• Improve the clinical audit information sharing process to ensure that it informs and improves clinical and operational practice

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice