Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice
This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection October 2014 rated overall as Requires Improvement; this inspection related to the old provider)
The key questions are rated as:
Are services safe? – Requires Improvement
Are services effective? – Good
Are services caring? – Good
Are services responsive? – Good
Are services well-led? – Good
As part of our inspection process, we also look at the quality of care for specific population groups. The population groups are rated as:
Older People – Good
People with long-term conditions – Good
Families, children and young people – Good
Working age people (including those recently retired and students – Good
People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable – Good
People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia) - Good
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Addiscombe Road Surgery on 20 December 2017 as part of our regular inspection programme.
At this inspection we found:
- The practice had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes. However they did not have a clear system in place to manage medicines and safety alerts.
- The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines; however the provider did not have a clear system in place to keep clinicians up to date with current evidence-based practice.
- Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
- Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
- There was a focus on continuous learning and improvement.
The areas where the practice must make improvements are:
- Ensure there is a system in place to receive, implement and monitor the implementation of medicines and safety alerts.
- Ensure patient safety at all times, including having a system to call for help from the patient toilet and
The areas where the provider should make improvements are:
- Develop a system to receive, review and implement evidence based guidelines.
- Consider recording clinical discussions.
- Review processes for exception reporting for patients with long-term conditions.
- Review the process for obtaining consent for clinical procedures to include them being appropriately recorded.
- Improve access for patients who are disabled.
- Develop a system to record verbal complaints.
Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice