Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Oliver St Surgery on 12 April 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.

• 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.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
• Any child under the age of five years was offered an appointment two days after their original consultation to reassure their parent or guardian.
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• The practice had introduced an observation sheet for completion during a medical emergency.
• 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.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

Continue to identify and support carers.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

The practice had a large waiting area, with a wide range of information and health promotion leaflets available for people. We found that people were seen in an environment which was clean and well organised. We observed staff speaking with and assisting patients, in a respectful and helpful manner. We noted when people were waiting for appointments, telephone calls taken, were handled discreetly. One person told us, "The receptionists here are very good. They are always happy.” The people we spoke with and the two representatives from the patient participation group, spoke positively about the practice and commented that they were happy with the care they received. One person said, "The staff and GP's are always supportive."

We saw that the building was single storey with consultation rooms on the ground floor, with adequate access for people with limited mobility. The practice provided people with information about the services available through leaflets available in the waiting area.

The practice had an up to date recruitment policy in place and a range of policies and procedures in place which supported the safe running of the service. Staff told us that they received on-going training appropriate to their roles.

We found that the practice leaflet provided people with information about how to raise a concern or complaint. Complaints were managed in accordance with the provider policy.

We reviewed the information available to us about The Oliver Street Surgery on 6 June 2019. We did not find evidence of significant changes to the quality of service being provided since the last inspection. As a result, we decided not to inspect the surgery at this time. We will continue to monitor this information about this service throughout the year and may inspect the surgery when we see evidence of potential changes.