Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Kibworth Health Centre on 19 November 2014. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Specifically, we found the practice to be good for providing well-led, effective, caring, safe and responsive services.

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, appropriately reviewed and addressed.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• 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.
• Patients said they found it relatively easy to make an appointment with a named GP and that there were different surgeries available depending on the patient’s location.
• 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 management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

At our previous inspection of this service in October 2013 we identified concerns that the provider had not always ensured patients and others were protected from the risks of healthcare associated infections and asked them to take action.

Prior to this inspection we received information of concern regarding the appointment system and referral systems in place at the practice.

As part of the inspection we visited all three surgery locations, Main Street Great Glen, Fleckney Medical Centre High Street Fleckney and Kibworth Health Centre.

At this inspection we spoke with the practice manager, the pharmacy manager, the nurse manager, an advanced nurse practitioner provided by an agency, an administration secretary and a receptionist. We also spoke with three patients and looked at policies and procedures.

The patients we spoke with during our visit were dissatisfied with the appointment system but were happy with all other aspects of the service they received from the practice. One patient we spoke with told us, “I find the appointment system quite impossible at times, I think it’s a national problem.” Another patient said, “They are really efficient with referrals and you get a timely response.”

We found that the provider had taken steps to carry out the required improvements since our last visit, however we found there were no systems in place to monitor the quality of the cleaning carried out. We also found the practice did not have an infection control policy. This meant the provider did not have the necessary systems in place to ensure patients and others were protected from the risks of healthcare associated infections.

We spoke with seven patients about their experiences and all the patients identified positive experiences. One person said “I have been registered here since I was born. When we brought our children, they always took us seriously and checked them over properly and took time to explain things to us. They were also good with my parents as they got older and their health became a concern. I always feel I can ask questions about treatment options”.

Patients were generally very positive about their experiences. They told us they could normally get an appointment within 48 hours and that the on-line booking system was also helpful. They also told us reception staff were polite and helpful.

Medicines and vaccines were stored and dispensed appropriately.

The provider had systems in place for monitoring the quality of service provision, the PPG are active and have developed a questionnaire to be distributed to patients.

We found some areas of improvement were required to prevent the possibilities of cross infection and cross contamination at the practice.