Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Leven and Beeford Medical Practice on 24 September 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.

We saw areas of outstanding practice:

• The practice arranged a twice weekly taxi service to bring patients living in rural villages to the practice for their appointments.
• The practice arranged prescription delivery services for patients living in rural villages.
• The funding for a wound management clinic had been removed from the practice and the clinic changed to another location. However the practice continued to offer this service as an unfunded service, in order to provide patients with a service closer to home.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous rating September 2015 – Good)

The key questions at this inspection are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Outstanding

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? - Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Leven and Beeford Medical Practice on 24 April 2018 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.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• 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.

We saw several areas of outstanding practice:

• The practice arranged a twice weekly taxi service to bring patients living in rural villages to the practice for their appointments.
• The funding for a wound management clinic had been removed from the practice and the clinic changed to another location. However, the practice continued to offer this service as an unfunded service to provide patients with a service closer to home.
• The number of patients on the practice palliative care register who died in their preferred place was significantly higher than the national average. Over the past four years 60% of patients had died in their preferred place compared to the local CCG and national average of 23%.

The area where the provider should make improvements are:

• Take action so that dispensary standard operating procedures and PGDs are signed by all staff using them.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP Chief Inspector of General Practice