Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this practice on 27 January 2016. Breaches of Regulatory requirements were found during that inspection within the safe domain. After the comprehensive inspection, the practice sent us an action plan detailing what they would do to meet the regulatory responsibilities in relation to the following:

• Ensure that all staff undertaking chaperoning duties and who have unsupervised access to patients have undergone a check via the DBS.
• Ensure that they have a record of hand written prescription serial numbers to monitor their use. This must be maintained and up to date.

We undertook this focused inspection on 29 November 2016 to check that the provider had followed their action plan and to confirm that they now met regulatory requirements.

This report only covers our findings in relation to those requirements. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for River Lodge Surgery on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

This report should be read in conjunction with the last report published in July 2016.

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

• We saw evidence to confirm that the practice had undertaken Disclosure and Barring Service checks for all staff who had unsupervised access to patients including those who undertook chaperoning duties.
• We saw evidence to demonstrate that the practice had a system for monitoring both hand written and computer generated prescriptions.

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 of this practice on 27 January 2016. Breaches of Regulatory requirements were found during that inspection within the safe domain. After the comprehensive inspection, the practice sent us an action plan detailing what they would do to meet the regulatory responsibilities in relation to the following:

• Ensure that all staff undertaking chaperoning duties and who have unsupervised access to patients have undergone a check via the DBS.
• Ensure that they have a record of hand written prescription serial numbers to monitor their use. This must be maintained and up to date.

We undertook this focused inspection on 29 November 2016 to check that the provider had followed their action plan and to confirm that they now met regulatory requirements.

This report only covers our findings in relation to those requirements. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for River Lodge Surgery on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

This report should be read in conjunction with the last report published in July 2016.

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

• We saw evidence to confirm that the practice had undertaken Disclosure and Barring Service checks for all staff who had unsupervised access to patients including those who undertook chaperoning duties.
• We saw evidence to demonstrate that the practice had a system for monitoring both hand written and computer generated prescriptions.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We used a number of different methods to help us understand the experiences of people who used the service. We talked with six people who used the service, one of who was also a member of the practices Patient Participation Group (PPG). We observed interaction between staff and people who used the service. We visited both of the practices surgeries. We reviewed records and systems and looked at the environment and how this impacted on the service delivery. We spoke with staff that included; the secretary to the practice manager, the office manager, two practice nurses, a healthcare assistant, a senior receptionist, two medical secretaries/receptionists, and two GP’s in the partnership one of who was also the registered manager for the practice. We subsequently spoke with the practice manager who was not present on the day of the inspection.

This told us that people who used the service care needs had been assessed; they had time to discuss their health care issues, and had been fully involved in making decisions about their care and treatment. Comments received included "I think it’s a very good practice,” “It’s always been a friendly doctors. They have always seen to my needs,” and “It’s all about partnership and not just being listened to,” “They have been brilliant in supporting me.”

We saw that processes were established that ensured staff had an understanding of abuse and what to do if it was suspected.

Records and processes in place ensured staff who worked in the practice had the right skills and qualifications to undertake the role designated. Staff had training and development opportunities and told us they were well supported by the provider and staff that they worked with.

We found that the processes in place that responded to complaints had ensured information provided was used to improve the service.