Wellfield Medical Centre

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection July 2015 – Good)

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

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 Wellfield Medical Centre on 20 March 2018.

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 had a comprehensive understanding of the performance of the practice and how it was maintained.
• 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.
• The practice had visible clinical and managerial leadership and governance arrangements in place.
• 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.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

The practice provided an in house weekly sexually transmitted diseases clinic (STD). Patients were given the choice of a male or female GP and were provided with a double appointment. We saw evidence of 109 patients treated between, 2016-2017. We also saw evidence of these clinics being fully audited on a regular basis.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Improve the infection control policy so it contains up to date information.
• Improve clarity around the management of risk. Staff who act as chaperones should be trained and have individual risk assessments in place.
• Improve role specific job description information within staff folders.
• Continue to review the Patient Participation Group (PPG) and new ways of engagement.
• Add the full address of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman(PHSO) in the complaints policy.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice