Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

When we visited The Orchard Partnership, The Old Orchard Surgery

on 28 September 2016 to carry out a comprehensive inspection, we found the

practice was not compliant with the regulation relating to good governance. Overall

the practice was rated as good.

We found the practice required improvement for the provision of well-led

services because:

• The practice governance systems, specifically the communication

  systems, did not always operate effectively or consistently.

• The practice did not ensure that learning from complaints,

  significant events and alerts were adequately shared with all appropriate

  staff.

We also said the practice should:

• Review the safeguarding policy to ensure it includes reference

  to the legal framework for safeguarding.

• Ensure the practice’s comprehensive business continuity plan

  includes contact numbers for staff.

• Ensure all staff receives an appraisal every 12 months.

• Ensure they have adequate systems in place to ensure all

  emergency medicines are in date and suitable to use.

We undertook an announced focused inspection on 27 April 2017 to

ensure  the practice was meeting the

regulation previously breached. For this reason we have only rated the location

for the key question to which this relates. This report should be read in

conjunction with the full report of our inspection on 31 August 2016, which can

be found on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Our

key findings were as follows:

• The practice had implemented a new communication policy and

  procedure to ensure communications, including learning events, complaints and

  significant events were shared appropriately across their four sites.

   

• The practice had revised their procedures to ensure learning was

  shared effectively across all sites.

• The practice

  had updated its business continuity plan to include all staff contact numbers

  and their safeguarding policy to ensure it included reference to the legal

  framework for safeguarding.

• The practice had revised their governance arrangements surrounding

  the management of emergency medicines to ensure they were all in date and

  suitable for use.

• All

  staff had received an appraisal in the last 12 months.

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 Orchard Partnership on 28 September 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 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.

• 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. The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.

• When things went wrong patients received reasonable support, truthful information, and a written apology. They were told about any actions to improve processes to prevent the same thing happening again.

• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

We noted one area of outstanding performance:

• Results from the national GP patient survey showed the practice was performing significantly better than local and national averages in most areas. For example, 

  98%

  of patients found it easy to get through to this practice by phone compared to

  the clinical commissioning group (CCG) average of 80% and national average of

  73%.

   

The areas where the provider must make improvement are:

• Ensure all incidents and significant events such as unexpected deaths are reviewed, and any improvements made as a result actions and lessons learnt are shared with other staff.

• Ensure its governance system are implemented consistently across all sites.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Review the safeguarding policy to ensure it includes reference to the legal framework for safeguarding.

• Ensure the practice comprehensive business continuity plan includes contact numbers for staff.

• Ensure all staff receive an appraisal every 12 months.

• Ensure they have adequate systems in place to ensure all emergency medicines are in date and suitable to use.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice