Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dorchester Road Surgery on 14 October 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.
• The practice had carried out a number of risk assessments, action plans, and audits to ensure patient and staff safety. These related to areas such as safeguarding, infection control, medicines, emergency events, and health and safety.
• A legionella risk assessment had been completed, but the practice had not completed all of the required actions identified in the assessment.
• 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.
• The practice provided person centred, holistic services to patients, and particularly patients with mental health and substance misuse difficulties who were living in circumstances that made them vulnerable.
• 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.
• The practice was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• There was a clear leadership structure and open culture and staff felt supported by management. 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.

We saw an area of outstanding practice:

• The practice provided a service for patients experiencing substance misuse difficulties. They offered appointments to patients living in the whole of the county and from other practices. They also offered services to patients who had just left prison and to temporary residents until they were registered with a permanent practice. The practice had 103 patients receiving substitute prescribing. Over the past year, GPs at the practice had seen 159 patients for substitute prescribing in total and 116 were patients from other practices. An audit in September 2015 showed that 28% of patients using the substance misuse service at the practice tested negative for opiate use.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• The practice should review their risk management policy and processes for legionella and fire safety to meet best practice.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice