Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Medical Centre - Driffield on 16 June 2016. The overall rating for the practice was good and the rating for the safe domain was requires improvement. The full comprehensive report on the June 2016 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Medical Centre - Driffield on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

This inspection was an announced focused inspection carried out on 10 May 2017 to confirm that the practice had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breaches in regulations that we identified in our previous inspection on 21 June 2016. This report covers our findings in relation to those requirements and also additional improvements made since our last inspection.

Overall the practice was now rated as good.

Our key findings were as follows:

• The arrangements for managing medicines, including emergency medicines and vaccines, in the practice minimised risks to patient safety (including obtaining, prescribing, recording, handling, storing, security and disposal).

We asked the practice to send us information to confirm that they had addressed other areas identified at the inspection in June 2016 that should improve. These included:

• A new schedule of meetings had been introduced to ensure that learning from incidents was shared with the whole practice team.

• A process was in place to monitor that all staff were up to date with mandatory refresher training.

• A business development plan was in place which set out the practice plans for the future.

• There was a rolling programme of review of policies and procedures and all policies had an annual review date added, as well as an issue date and version control.

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 Medical Centre – Driffield on 16 June 2016. We visited the main surgery in Driffield and the branch surgery at Wetwang during the inspection. 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 with the exception of those relating to the management of medicines.
• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance.
• Staff had 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 were able to get same day appointments and pre bookable appointments were available.
• 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.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour.

However there were areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.

Importantly the provider must:

• Ensure medicines are managed and dispensed safely and in accordance with the practice policy and procedures.

Importantly the provider should:

• Share lessons learned from incidents with all staff in the practice.

• Monitor that all staff are up to date with mandatory refresher training.

• Have a documented strategy and supporting business plan which outlines their vision and plans for the future.

• Review policies and procedures and make sure they have a date issued and review date recorded.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice