Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Winterton Medical Practice on 10 February 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Specifically, we found the practice to be good for providing well-led, effective, caring and responsive services. It was also good for providing services for the people with long-term conditions, families, children and young people, working age people (including those recently retired and students), people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable and people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia). We found the care of older people to be outstanding.

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.

• 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.

• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and that 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.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

The practice provided a community geriatric service which was led by a consultant Geriatrician and supported by a physiotherapist. The aim of the service was to focus on dealing with conditions associated with ageing and the frailty of old age. The practice also provided a falls community assessment clinic and patients who were on the end of life pathway were appointed a named GP who managed their care.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice