We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Station Practice on 14 January 2019 as part of our inspection programme.

We based our judgement of the quality of care at this service on a combination of:

• what we found when we inspected
• information from our ongoing monitoring of data about services and
• information from the provider, patients, the public and other organisations.

We have rated this practice as good overall and good for all population groups.

We found that:

• The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
• Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs. However, patients with poor mental health did not always have a care plan and performance around this was worse than in 2015 when it was highlighted in our inspection report as an area the practice should improve.
• Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
• The practice organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
• The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.
• The majority of staff felt supported by leaders within the practice, however, some staff felt they weren’t listened to.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

• The practice had identified a higher than average proportion of patients prescribed benzodiazepines, opiates and other strong pain killers. A high proportion of these patients had transferred from a local practice that closed at the end of 2017 and there were high numbers of patients with mental health issues or a history of substance misuse. The practice had developed a pain toolkit and set up a project involving one of the GPs, a practice pharmacist and a specialist on dependence forming medicines. Data from the first six months of the project showed evidence of successful cessation and reduction plans for 59% of patients and there was evidence of quality of life improvement as a result.

Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:

• Improve the performance around mental health indicators and long-term conditions.
• Improve the recording of smoking status of patients.
• Review action taken as a result of staff concerns and improve engagement mechanisms.
• Continue to monitor and improve patient access to the practice by phone.

Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.

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 Station Practice on 15 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 that they could often 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 and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• To review the need for an updated DBS check as soon as clinical staff are employed.

• To identify methods of improving Quality and Outcome Framework figures for mental health indicators.

• To ensure that feedback from patients and staff is obtained and acted upon to drive improvement. This should include general satisfaction with the service and access to telephone lines and appointments.

• To consider further training for reception staff with the aim of improving patient satisfaction levels with the service.

• To consider and action ways to increase the identification of carers.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice