Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Pocklington Group Practice on 14 June 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.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• 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.
• 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. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available each day.
• 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 their management team. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour. The partners encouraged a culture of openness and honesty.

We saw an area of outstanding practice:

• Pocklington Integrated Health and Social Care Hub which was launched in December 2014 looked at new ways of working and supporting their older patients. Its focus was to provide better, co-ordinated care to patients most at risk of hospital admission. We were provided with compelling evidence showing how appropriate treatment and support had decreased the non-elective admissions (NEA) to secondary care (hospital) for 65 years + by 12% and an overall decrease for all age groups (NEA) of 5%. There was a 10% decrease of secondary care bed occupation in comparison to previous years.

There were areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements,the provider should:

• Review procedures to ensure all repeat prescriptions are signed before being dispensed to patients.
• Rationalise the arrangements for the management of patient group directions.

• Review the storage of controlled drugs to ensure they meet with legislative requirements.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice