Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at West Common Lane Teaching Practice on 4 November 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

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

• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses. Information about safety was recorded, monitored, appropriately reviewed and addressed.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed, with the exception of those relating to recruitment checks.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance. Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and any further training needs had been identified and planned.

• 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.
• 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.

We saw two area of outstanding practice:

A respiratory nurse undertook a local initiative COPD Breathless Manual training and now helps to identify patients that can be offered the manual as part of their treatment plan. This was a 5 week self-management booklet for patients to complete with guidance from the respiratory nurse.

The diabetic specialist practice nurse worked alongside the lead GP and advanced nurse practitioner to help manage patients with diabetes. They had undertaken the Insulin Conversion Training and offered this service to the appropriate patients. When a patient commenced on insulin the nurse regularly contacted them over a weekend to ensure they were coping with the change and would if necessary, arrange to visit them at home.

However there were areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.

Importantly the provider should:

• Ensure recruitment arrangements include all necessary employment checks for all staff.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice