Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We had carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Weaver Vale Surgery on 16 June 2015. The overall rating for the practice was ‘requires improvement’. The full comprehensive report on the June 2015 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Weaver Vale Surgery on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

At our previous inspection in June 2015 we rated the practice as ‘requires improvement’ for providing a safe service and for providing a well-led service. As a result the practice was rated as ‘requires improvement’ overall. We issued two requirement notices to the provider relating to leadership of the practice and recruitment procedures.

This inspection visit was carried out on 4 April 2017 to check that the provider had met their plan to meet the legal requirements and as part of a comprehensive inspection of the service.

The findings of this inspection were that the provider had taken action to meet the requirements of the last inspection. The service is now rated as ‘good’ for providing safe and well-led services. The practice is now rated as ‘good’ overall.

Our key findings were as follows:

• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns and report incidents and near misses. Significant events had been investigated and action had been taken as a result of the learning from events.

• Systems were in place to deal with medical emergencies and staff were trained in basic life support.

• There were systems in place to reduce risks to patient safety. For example, infection control practices were carried out appropriately and there were regular checks on the environment and on equipment used.

• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with evidence based guidance.

• Data showed that outcomes for patients at this practice were similar to outcomes for patients locally and nationally.

• Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.

• Patients gave us positive feedback about all aspects of the service.

• The appointments system was flexible to accommodate the needs of patients. Urgent and routine appointments were available the same day and routine appointments could be booked in advance.

• The practice had good facilities, including disabled access. It was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.

• Information about services and how to complain was available. Complaints had been investigated and responded to in a timely manner.

• There was a clear leadership and staff structure and staff understood their roles and responsibilities.

• The practice had a clear vision to provide a safe and high quality service.

• The practice provided a range of enhanced services to meet the needs of the local population.

• The practice sought patient views about improvements that could be made to the service. This included the practice consulting with their patient participation group (PPG).

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 Weaver Vale Surgery on 16 June 2015. Overall the practice is rated as requires improvement.

Specifically, we found the practice required improvement for providing safe and well-led services. We found the practice was good for providing effective, caring and responsive services. There were aspects of the safe and well-led domains that impacted on all population groups.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were:

• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns and to report incidents. Information about safety was recorded and reviewed. Some incidents which were recorded as complaints lacked follow through on corrective actions. Information that came to light in complaints, was not treated as a significant event, and information was not shared to prevent the incident reoccurring.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed, with the exception of those relating to recruitment checks, and checks on emergency medicines
• Data showed patient outcomes in-line with those expected for the locality. Data collection exercises had been conducted to evaluate patient outcomes. Practice GPs could show evidence of clinical audit in relation to treatment of patients.
• Patients told us that GPs and nursing staff were caring and compassionate
• The practice was responsive to its patients and acted on feedback to improve patient access to services
• Practice leaders recognised the opportunity for change and worked with stakeholders to secure the best future for the practice and its patients. We did note gaps within the leadership team which hindered the practice’s daily working relationships. Leaders failed to investigate and respond fully to concerns raised.

There were also areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.

Importantly, the provider must:

• Apply recruitment checks to all staff in line with the requirements of Schedule 3.

• Investigate concerns and apply proportionate action to any failures identified.

In addition the provider should:

• Improve engagement with the patient participant group.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We reviewed the information available to us about The Weaver Vale Surgery on 12 April 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.