Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Sandy Lane Surgery on 22 April 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Specifically, we found the practice to be good for providing safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led services. It was also good for providing services for older people, people with long term conditions, families, children and young people, the working age population and those recently retired, people in vulnerable circumstances and people experiencing poor mental health

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected 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 were assessed and well managed, with the exception of those relating to telephone access to the practice.
• 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 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.
• 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 the management.

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

Importantly the provider should:

• Monitor and review telephone access to the practice to support patients to book appointments.
• Ensure that patient group directions (PGD) are in date and current. PGDs are written instructions for the supply or administration of medicines to groups of patients who may not be individually identified before presentation for treatment.
• Work with and involve the patient participation group (PPG) in changes made to the service. A PPG is a group of patients registered with a practice who work with the practice to improve services and the quality of care.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice