Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Quorn Medical Centre on 10 January 2017. Overall the practice is rated as outstanding.

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

• There was an open and transparent approach to safety within the practice. Effective systems were in place to report, record and learn from significant events. Learning was shared with staff and external stakeholders where appropriate.

• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed. Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance.

• Outcomes for people who use the service were consistently better than expected when compared to other practices.

• Training was provided for staff which equipped them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.

• Patients were valued as individuals and empowered as partners in their care. They told us they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.

• National patient survey results showed 98% of patients said they were able to get an appointment to see or speak to someone the last time they tried. This was much better than others locally.

• 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 and learning from complaints was shared with staff and stakeholders.

• The leadership, governance and culture were used to drive and improve the delivery of high quality person centred care. 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 some areas of outstanding practice, including:

• GPs had led and delivered improved outcomes and care for patients including across the local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and over wide range of clinical areas including diabetes. The practice actively sought to prevent diabetes through the identification and follow up of patients with pre-diabetes or statistically at risk of diabetes.

• Services were tailored to meet the needs of individual people and delivered in a way to ensure flexibility, choice and continuity of care, as demonstrated by below average for their use of accident and emergency (A&E), emergency admissions and outpatient referrals in 2015/16.

• There was evidence of a highly engaged and proactive patient participation group (PPG) who participated in a number of initiatives to enrich the lives of patients.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice