We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Calverton Practice on 7 January 2015. Overall the practice is rated as outstanding.

Specifically, we found the practice to be outstanding for providing effective and responsive services. It was also outstanding for providing services for people with long-term conditions and working age people (including those recently retired and students).

It was good for providing safe, caring and well-led services. It was also good for providing services for older people, people with long-term conditions, families, children and young people, people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable and 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. 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.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and that there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
• 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.

We saw several areas of outstanding practice;

• The practice ran a tier 4 anticoagulant service overseen by the practice pharmacist which included providing services to all housebound patients by appropriately trained Heath Care assistants. This service was not routinely available in other practices within the CCG area.

• The practice employed a practice pharmacist who was also trained as an independent prescriber. The pharmacist offered clinics which were tailored to meet the needs of patients with complex conditions. This service was available to all registered patients. The practice was able to demonstrate very effective prescribing rates in terms of hypnotic usage, anti-inflammatory medication and antibiotic prescribing compared to the national average as a result of continuous quality improvement.

• The practice ran a morning walk in service for minor illness led by appropriately trained practice nurses. The practice was able to demonstrate lower accident and emergency (A&E) attendance rates than the average for the locality.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice