Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection April 2015 – Good)

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? - Good

As part of our inspection process, we also look at the quality of care for specific population groups. The population groups are rated as:

Older People – Good

People with long-term conditions – Good

Families, children and young people – Good

Working age people (including those recently retired and students – Good

People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable – Good

People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia) - Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Avenue Surgery on 23 November 2017 as part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

• The practice had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes.
• The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• The practice made improvements to the quality of care and treatment through the use of audit and were able to demonstrate action taken and measurable improvements as a result.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect and they demonstrated a good understanding of the needs of the local patient population.
• The practice worked with other services to meet the needs of their complex and transient population groups.
• Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.
• There was evidence of good working with the patient participation group in order to engage, listen and work with patients to ensure that services met patient needs.
• Clear action had been taken by the practice to improve antimicrobial prescribing.
• Exception reporting was high in some areas; however the practice demonstrated a good awareness and understanding of this and took continuous action to encourage improvements.
• Patient satisfaction was high in relation to GP and nurse consultations and their involvement in planning and decision making about their care.
• The practice encouraged access to services by promoting online services, drop-in services for specific groups and extended hours appointments in the evening and at the weekend.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Continue to work to improve exception reporting in relation to patient outcomes for those with long term conditions.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Avenue Surgery on 21 April 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Specifically, we found the practice to be good for providing well-led, effective, caring and responsive services. It was also good for providing services for the six population groups; older people, people with long term conditions, families, children and young people, working age people (including those recently retired and students), people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable, people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia).

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 and were actively encouraged to do so.
• Information about safety was recorded, monitored, appropriately reviewed and addressed. Opportunities for learning from internal and external incidents were maximised.
• 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.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a GP and that urgent appointments were available the same day.
• Leadership roles were clearly defined and staff felt supported by management.
• The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
• There were effective systems in place for the controlling the risk of infection. The practice was clean and hygienic.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice