Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Whitemoor medical centre on 5 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. Learning was shared with staff at meetings.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed. Health and safety precautions had been taken which included checking equipment was fully working and safe to use and infection prevention control measures were in place.
• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment. Personal development was encouraged and provision made regularly for this for all staff via the appraisal process.

• Data from the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) showed patient outcomes were at or above average compared to the national average. They had achieved 97% of the total points available with an exception reporting rate of 7%
• 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.
• Feedback from patients about their care was positive, however, patients reported that it was difficult to access a routine appointment. Same day appointments were available for urgent needs.
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs. This included baby changing facilities and treatment rooms which had been purpose built.
• The practice implemented suggestions for improvements and made changes to the way it delivered services as a consequence of feedback from patients and the patient participation group.
• The practice had a clear vision which was patient focussed. The strategy to deliver this vision had been shared with staff.

We saw two areas of outstanding practice:

• The practice proactively conducted a comprehensive case review of any suicide, which included external reviewers to improve clinicians’ identification of those at risk of self-harm
• The practice worked in collaboration with four local practices on a project to drive improvement in care for older people and reduce emergency admissions from care homes. This had resulted in an 8% reduction in emergency admissions in the preceding 12 months.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We reviewed the information available to us about Whitemoor Medical Centre on 4 June 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.