Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The New Surgery on 17 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.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed with the exception of prescription security.

• 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.
• Some patients said they found it difficult to get through to the practice by telephone however, there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
• The practice 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 upon.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are: 

• Review the incident reporting process to include review of relevant policy or procedure during the investigation process.
• Review the prescription security procedures to track them through the practice in order to comply with NHS Protect Security of prescription forms guidance (Updated August 2013).
• Revisit the contract of the premises with the landlord to include a service level agreement to determine who is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the premises, utilities and fixtures and fittings.

• Implement a procedure to capture actions taken by the practice in response to best practice guidance and medicine alerts.
• Review the layout of the layout of the waiting area to promote confidentiality and also access to two treatment rooms via pharmacy floor space.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Patients expressed their views and were involved in making decisions about their care and treatment.

Patients’ needs were assessed and treatment was planned and delivered in line with their individual needs. The eight patients we spoke with commented positively about the service they had received. They told us their treatments were clearly explained and raised no concerns about how they were treated. One person told us, “I like it here. Staff are friendly, helpful and polite.”

Patients and staff were protected from the risk of infection because appropriate guidance was available and had been followed. They told us the practice was always clean and well maintained.

Staff received appropriate professional development. We saw staff had accessed various training so they could meet patients’ needs and maintain their qualifications.

The practice had a system to assess and monitor the quality of service that patients received. Patients we spoke with told us that overall they were happy with the service they received. However most of them said they were not happy with the appointment booking system.