Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Practice @ 188 on 18 October 2017. 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 a system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
• The practice had clearly defined and embedded systems to minimise risks to patient safety.
• Staff were aware of current evidence based guidance. Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills and knowledge to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Results from the national GP patient survey showed patients were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• Information about services and how to complain was available. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns.
• Patients we spoke with 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.
• 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 the requirements of the duty of candour. Examples we reviewed showed the practice complied with these requirements.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Consider putting arrangements in place to support patients with impaired hearing with a view to improving access to services.
• Ensure that plans to provide all staff with annual appraisals are followed through.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We had previously carried out an announced comprehensive inspection in October 2017, the practice was rated good for all domain and population groups at that time. The report for the comprehensive inspection can be found by selecting the ‘reports’ link for The Practice @ 188 on our website at: https://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-2464509211/reports

We received concerns about the population group ‘older people’ from third parties. To ensure the care of older people was in line with the good rating the practice received in October 2017, we carried out an announced focused inspection at The Practice @ 188 on 13 November 2018 to review the care of older people. The practice were open and transparent during the inspection process.

We reviewed the population group ‘older people’ against the key questions:

Are services safe?

Are services effective?

Are services caring?

Are services responsive?

Are services well-led?

We found no patient safety concerns when reviewing this population group. We did find areas of good practice and we found the population group ‘older people’ was in line with the good rating awarded in October 2017.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

• The practice had effective systems to manage medicines for older people including high risk medicines.
• The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided for older people. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• Staff involved and treated older people with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Learning from incidents was identified and shared widely enough to result in improved outcomes for patients.
• Medical records we reviewed for older people were comprehensive and in line with General Medical Council guidelines.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGPChief Inspector of General Practice

Please refer to the detailed report and the evidence tables for further information.