Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection Scawsby Health Centre on 1 March 2016. Overall 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 an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
• Risks to patients were assessed and managed.
• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• 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.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and that there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
• There was a clear staff 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.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

• The practice offered daily walk in morning appointments with GPs at Scawsby Health Centre and Arksey Lane Surgery.  Patients would book into the practice on arrival and sit and wait to be seen. They told us they were often given the choice of GP they wished to see. Patients told us this service was marvellous as they did not have to telephone or contact the practice for an appointment.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Review the actions identified in the infection prevention and control audit and identify a reasonable time frame for completion which is regularly reviewed.
• Review the calibration arrangements for the vaccine fridge as a second independent thermometer is ideal but if that is not available the thermometer used should be calibrated monthly to confirm accuracy. A second thermometer provides a method of cross-checking the accuracy of the temperature.
• Improve record keeping systems to maintain accurate records, in particular in relation to practice indemnity arrangements and new patient group directives.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We reviewed the information available to us about Scawsby Health Centre Practice on 8 June 2019. We did not find evidence of significant changes to the quality of service being provided since the last inspection. As a result, we decided not to inspect the surgery at this time. We will continue to monitor this information about this service throughout the year and may inspect the surgery when we see evidence of potential changes.