Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Highnam Surgery on 7 January 2015. Overall the practice is rated as Good.

We found the practice to be good for providing safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led services for older adults, families and children, patients with long term conditions, vulnerable patients, patients with mental health issues and patients who worked.

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.
• 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.
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.

• Overall patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and that there was continuity of care. There were arrangements to enable patients with urgent same day needs to see a GP on the same day. However, patients told us there could be long waits after their appointment time for a same day appointment.

• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management.
• The practice met nationally recognised quality standards for improving patient care and maintaining quality.
• The practice met the requirements of the Dispensary service quality scheme to maintain safe medicines management practice.

The provider SHOULD:

• Ensure the urgent appointments system is reviewed to improve patient waiting times.
• Implement the plan to proactively seek feedback from patients.
• Review governance arrangements to ensure clinical protocols are maintained to clinical governance standards.
• Review the available space in the dispensary to enable the safe storage and dispensing of medicines.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice