Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an inspection of Sherburn Medical Group on 1 July 2015, as part of our comprehensive programme of inspection of primary medical services. The inspection team found, after analysing all of the evidence, that the practice was safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led. It was rated as good for all of the population groups.

Our key findings 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, appropriately reviewed and addressed.
• Patients received care according to professional best practice clinical guidelines. The practice had regular information updates, which informed staff about new guidance to ensure they were up to date with best practice. According to the data from Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), an annual reward and incentive programme showing GP practice achievement results, outcomes for patients registered with this practice were above average.
• Patients reported the positive view they had of the doctors and staff at the surgery. Practice staff knew their patients well. We received many examples of how their GPs acted ‘over and above’ their expectations from them; these included contacting patients over the weekend and home visiting after accidental deaths. The practice ensured patients received accessible, individual care, whilst respecting their needs and wishes. The QOF indicators showed that patients felt listened to and involved in decisions about their care and this was similar to other practices in the area.
• The appointment system was guided by internal audit and evaluation of the needs and views of the patients. Urgent needs were addressed on the day and the patients in general were able to see the GP of their choice. The service had embedded and positive working relationships between staff and other healthcare professionals involved in the delivery of services.
• The management team reflected upon the services they provided and actively explored ways of improving health and care outcomes. Quality and performance was monitored and risks were identified and managed.

We saw several areas of outstanding practice including:

• The practice, as part of SHIELD (The Selby Area Federation of GP Practices), had won an innovation fund to develop social prescribing. This fund was used initially to support the local voluntary service to produce an up to date data base of available voluntary social care organisations. Patients were then referred to the most appropriate services.
• The named GP undertook visits with a geriatrician each month to the local care and nursing homes to assess and meet the needs of their patients. This also prevented long journeys to hospitals for these patients who were mainly frail and elderly. In conjunction with the community matron, they had implemented anticipatory care plans with admission avoidance planning incorporated. In addition using the community response team had reduced unplanned admissions by 27% in 2015 compared with 2014.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We reviewed the information available to us about Sherburn Group Practice on 21 May 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.