Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Townhill Surgery on 24 August 2016. The overall rating for the practice was good. The full comprehensive report on the August 2016 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Townhill Surgery on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

This inspection was a desk-based review carried out on 29 March 2017 to confirm that the practice had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements, in relation to the breaches in regulations that we identified in our previous inspection on 24 August 2016. This report covers our findings in relation to those requirements and also additional improvements made since our last inspection.

Overall the practice is rated as Good.

Our key findings were as follows:

• Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks were conducted on all new clinical members of staff, prior to starting employment.

• Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks were conducted on all existing members of staff, irrespective of their role.

• The practice had placed posters in the waiting area, in an effort to identify carers or patients with caring responsibilities.

• The practice had designed and produced a carers form, to identify carers or patients with caring responsibilities during their registration process.

At our previous inspection on 24 August 2016, we rated the practice as requires improvement for providing safe services as Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks were not carried out on staff who were acting as chaperones.

In addition, we also found that the practice needed to develop an appropriate way of identifying carers, in order to offer more support.

At this inspection we found that Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks had been carried out on all members of staff, and the practice had taken steps to identify carers or patients with caring responsibilities. Consequently, the practice is now rated as good for providing safe services.

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 Townhill Surgery, Wessex Road, West End, Southampton, Hampshire, SO18 3RA on 24 August 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 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 and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

The areas where the provider must make improvement are:

Ensure clinical staff and staff acting as chaperones have the appropriate disclosure and barring service (DBS) checks.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• The practice should take action to identify the patients that are also carers in order to provide more support.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We spoke with seven patients, five members of staff and the provider. Patients were complimentary about all the staff and the surgery’s services. We found that although the practice was busy the majority of patients could get an appointment when they needed one, especially the same day for an urgent appointment. One patient said "I can always get an appointment. Because of my condition they often see me within a few hours”.

Patients using the service were treated with respect and involved in making decisions about their care and treatment. The provider took proper steps to ensure patients were protected against the risks of receiving care or treatment that was inappropriate or unsafe.

Patients who used the service were protected from the risk of abuse, because the provider had taken reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening. Patients were cared for, or supported by, suitably qualified, skilled and experienced staff.

The provider had an effective system to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that patients received.