Background to this inspection
Updated
17 December 2019
This is the fifth inspection of The Haverhill Family Practice. At our previous inspection published in November 2018 we rated the practice as requires improvement. The practice was rated as requires improvement for safe and responsive services and good for effective, caring and well-led services. At this inspection we followed up on breaches of regulations identified at a previous inspection published in November 2018.
All previous reports can be found at and add the practice name.
The Haverhill Family Practice is located at Camps Road, Haverhill, Suffolk CB9 8HF. There is a branch surgery at Stourview Surgery, Crown Passage, Haverhill, Suffolk and on the day of the inspection this site had been closed since August 2019 and patients were not being seen in the premises.
The practice holds a Personal Medical Services (PMS) contract, a locally agreed contract with NHS England. The practice offers health care services to approximately 15,600 patients. Information published by Public Health England, rates the level of deprivation within the practice population group as seven, on a scale of one to ten. Level one represents the highest levels of deprivation and level ten the lowest. Male life expectancy is 81 years compared to the national average of 79 years. Female life expectancy is 84 years compared to the national average of 83 years.
The practice comprises of five GP partners (two male and three female), three health care assistants/phlebotomists, four practice nurses (female), three nurse practitioners (female), and two health practitioners (male). A human resources manager, IT/audit manager, and business manager lead a team of support staff including secretaries, receptionists, administrators, and data quality administrators.
The Haverhill Family Practice is open between 8am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday and on Saturday 8.30am to 11.30am. Weekday appointments are from 8.30am to 11.30am and 3pm to 6pm. Nurses appointments are available from 8am to 12.30pm and 1.30pm to 5.30pm and on Saturday mornings. Extended hours appointments are offered between 6.30pm and 7.30pm on Monday evenings twice month a month and 8.30am and 11.30am every Saturday. Appointments can be made by the practice for the GP+ service where patients can be seen at another locality in the evenings or weekends. Out of hours services are provided Suffolk GP Federation C.I.C. via the NHS 111 service.
Updated
17 December 2019
This practice is rated as Good overall and rated as Good for providing safe, effective, caring and well led service. The practice is rated as requires improvement for responsive services and all population groups.
This is the fifth inspection of The Haverhill Family Practice. At our previous inspection published in November 2018 we rated the practice as requires improvement. The practice was rated as requires improvement for safe and responsive services and good for effective, caring and well-led services. At this inspection we followed up on breaches of regulations identified at a previous inspection published in November 2018.
At our inspection September 2017, the practice was rated as good overall and for providing safe, caring, responsive and well led services and requires improvement for providing effective services. We undertook a focused inspection 31 May 2017 to follow up on the enforcement that we had issued as part of our January 2017 inspection. At our previous inspection January 2017, the practice was rated inadequate overall and for safe, effective and well led services. The practice was rated as requires improvement for providing caring and responsive services. The practice was placed into special measures for six months in 2017 but was taken out of special measures in September 2017 following improvements.
We based our judgement of the quality of care at this service on a combination of:
- what we found when we inspected
- information from our ongoing monitoring of data about services and
- information from the provider, patients, the public and other organisations.
We have rated this practice as good overall and good for safe, effective, caring and well led services and requires improvement for responsive services. As a result of this rating all population groups are rated as requires improvements.
We found that:
- Improvements had been made since our last inspection and the practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
- Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
- Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
- The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.
We have rated the practice for delivering responsive services and all population groups as requires improvement because;
- We found the practice had reviewed the feedback from patients, had implemented changes such as an improved telephone system and made some improvements. However, patient feedback from the GP patient Survey data and the practices’ own survey is generally still below the CCG and national averages. Some patients we spoke with reflected improvements but still reported some difficulties in access to the practice, in relation getting through on the telephone.
Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:
- Review the system and process to ensure all staff receive appropriate training in a timely manner in particular fire safety training.
- Continue to monitor and take action to improve patient satisfaction in respect of access to the practice
- Review and monitor infection prevention and control audits to ensure sufficient detail is recorded to mitigate risks and ensure action completed.
Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.
Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP
Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care