Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Smallfield Surgery on 20 October 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.
• There was a holistic approach to assessing, planning and delivering care and treatment to patients. For example, patients could attend a Chronic Disease Monitoring (CDM) appointment to assess all of their long term conditions needs. Therefore patients were not inconvenienced by having to attend several appointment and patients conditions were assessed as a whole rather than individually.
• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• Data from the national GP patient survey showed patients rated the practice higher than others for several aspects of care. For example, 95% of patients described the overall experience of this GP practice as good compared to the national average of 85%.
• Feedback from patients we spoke with or who provided feedback, (50 comments cards and five patients spoken with) were continuously positive about the way staff treated them and other patients. Patients said staff went the extra mile and the care they received exceeded their expectations. Patient’s also told us that it was easy to make an appointment with a named GP and there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
• The practice worked closely with other organisations and with the local community in planning how services were provided to ensure they meet patients’ needs. For example, the practice was involved in the forgetmenot club and the Wellbeing Advisor Project (the Wellbeing Advisor Project provides services such as befriending to reduce the risk of social isolation on patients health and wellbeing).
• The practice was proactive in the identification of carers and had identified 244 patients as carers (4% of the practice list).
• 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.
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• The practice was run efficiently and was well organised. There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
• The practice was part of a national pilot on preventing type 2 diabetes (National Diabetes Prevention Programme) as well as taking part in the National Diabetes Audit.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice