Merlyn Vaz Centre

This practice is rated as Good overall.

The key questions at this inspection are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? - Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Highfields Medical Centre on 25 March 2019 as part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

• The practice had clear and comprehensive systems in place to manage risk to that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the whole practice team leaned from them and improved their processes.
• 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.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Patients found the appointment system easy to use and most patients reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.

We saw an area of outstanding practice:

• The practice had a high prevalence of patients with diabetes and in response offered a comprehensive service to this group of patients. This included weekly diabetes clinics, an enhanced diabetes provision service led by the GP and practice nurse and occupational assessments for treatment choice. The practice is awaiting enhanced diabetes care status

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care