Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

This practice is rated as Good overall.

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? - Good

As part of our inspection process, we also look at the quality of care for specific population groups. The population groups are rated as:

Older People – Good

People with long-term conditions – Good

Families, children and young people – Good

Working age people (including those recently retired and students – Good

People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable – Good

People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia) - Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Trentham Medical Centre on 28 November 2017 as part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

• The practice had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes.

• There were systems in place to mitigate safety risks including health and safety, infection control and dealing with safeguarding.

• The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.

• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.

• Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.

• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.

• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.

• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The practice sought patient views about improvements that could be made to the service; including having an active patient participation group (PPG) and acted, where possible, on feedback.

• Staff worked well together as a team, knew their patients well and all felt supported to carry out their roles.

• The provider was aware of the requirements of the duty of candour.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Review storage of patients’ paper records to ensure they are safe from environmental risk damage.

• Review the frequency of undertaking infection control audits.

• Review the general environmental risk assessments to include updating annually and/or as the need arises.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice