This practice is rated as Good overall but Outstanding for providing responsive services and requires improvement for the population group of people with a long term condition. (The previous comprehensive inspection was carried out in September 2016 when the practice was rated Good overall).
The key questions are rated as:
Are services safe? – Good
Are services effective? – Good
Are services caring? – Good
Are services responsive? – Outstanding
Are services well-led? - Good
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at West Lodge Surgery on 7 June 2018 as part of our 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.
- 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 reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
- The practice had been proactive in taking steps to meet the requirements of the Accessible Information Standard. This included development of a presentation and training document which was delivered and shared across West Leeds. The practice had information readily available in a range of formats including audio and braille.
- There was a strong focus on innovative practice and partnership working to improve population health in the community. For example; one of the GP partners had taken the lead on the Leeds West Pilot for Deep Vein Thrombosis Pathway.
- The practice was working in partnership with Yorkshire Ambulance Service to have a specialist paramedic to provide clinical care to patients in the community. The scheme was designed to provide help to improve aspects of care provided to patients; help GP surgeries with high workload and increase the skill level of the paramedics involved.
We saw areas of outstanding practice:
- GPs at the practice liaised with other sectors when co-ordinating annual care plans for learning disabled patients and, following discussions and agreement with the patient and their carers, would arrange for integrated multispecialty clinics to integrate blood tests with dental, vision and ear checks if the patient required these. Early dementia screening was also carried out as the practice recognised that learning disabled patients can start to show signs of dementia from the age of 40.
The areas where the provider should make improvements are:
- Review and improve the range of vaccinations and immunisations offered to staff in line with Department of Health Guidelines.
- Continue to review and improve quality and outcomes framework exception reporting, particularly around the care and treatment provided to patients with long term conditions.
Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice