Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Wolverhampton Road Surgery on 18 May 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Please note that when referring to information throughout this report, for example any reference to the Quality and Outcomes Framework data, this relates to the most recent information available to the CQC at that time.

Our key findings 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.

• The practice had an understanding of their performance and had undertaken clinical audits to identify areas for improvement.

• 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.

• The practice had reviewed the appointment system and introduced telephone clinics to increase the number and type of appointments available for patients.

• 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 practice had a well-established patient participation group.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

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

The provider should:

• Ensure staff acting as chaperones understand their responsibilities, including where to stand during an examination.

• Review system for logging prescriptions to ensure an appropriate audit trail is maintained.

• Review the way in which patients who are carers are identified and recorded.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We visited the surgery to establish that the needs of patients using the service were being met. On the day of the inspection we spoke with 12 patients, five staff members, two doctors and the management team.

The patients we spoke with were generally complimentary about the service. We were told that the staff were helpful, polite and respectful. Most patients told us they had a preference for which GP they saw. They told us that they received care, treatment and support that met their needs. One patient described a particular doctor as: "Very good". They said: "They always take time to explain”.

Staff must be appropriately supported, trained and supervised in delivering care and treatment to patients who used the service. All the staff we spoke with said they felt supported in their role. They told us that the training available to them was good and met their requirements. This included safeguard training (protecting vulnerable adults and children).

The provider had systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service it provided. Patients had been given the opportunity to comment on the quality of the service via a patient satisfaction survey. A complaints process was in place and was available to patients. The practice had a Patient Participation Group (PPG). PPGs are an effective way for patients and GP surgeries to work together to improve the service and to promote and improve the quality of the care.

We reviewed the information available to us about Wolverhampton Road Surgery on 7 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.