Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Sele Medical Practice on 16 February 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good. The practice is rated outstanding for responsive services and good for providing safe, effective, caring and well-led services.

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

• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and report incidents and near misses.

• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.

• Outcomes for patients who use services were good.

• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance.

• Staff were consistent and proactive in supporting patients to live healthier lives through a targeted approach to health promotion. Information was provided to patients to help them understand the care and treatment available

• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment. Scores from the National GP Patient Survey were higher than local and national averages, for example, 97% of patients said the last GP they saw was good at explaining tests and treatments compared to the CCG average of 89.3% and the national average of 86%.

• The practice worked closely with other organisations and with the local community in planning how services were provided to ensure that they meet patients’ needs, for example, they were the sole GP service providing care to a specialist learning disability residential unit for people with severe behavioural and mental health problems.

• The practice had a system in place for handling complaints and concerns and responded quickly to any complaints.

• Patients said they were able to get an appointment with a GP when they needed one, 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 in place and staff felt supported by management. The practice sought feedback from staff and patients, which they acted on.

• Staff throughout the practice worked well together as a team.

We saw three areas of outstanding practice which included:

• The practice carried out a high number of clinical audits to monitor and improve patient care. They could show how this had impacted on patient care.

• The practice provided health education evenings for patients to promote good health. The sessions were three or four times a year and various healthcare topics were presented by one of the GPs or a health care professional, for approximately 45 minutes. These had been held since 2012 and attendances were between nine and 45 patients. Topics included, for example, cholesterol, eye conditions and the next session was on bowel cancer.

• The practice were responsive to vulnerable people they worked closely with other organisations and with the local community in planning how services were provided to ensure that they meet patients’ needs, for example, they were the sole GP service providing care to a specialist learning disability residential unit for people with severe behavioural and mental health problems.

  The area where the provider should make improvements

  is:

• Reconsider training for staff, they had not received health and safety or equality and diversity training and some staff had not received safeguarding adults training.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice