Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Lyndhurst Surgery on 29 October 2014. Overall the practice is rated as requires improvement.
Specifically, we found the practice to require improvement for providing safe and well led services. It also required improvement for providing services for older people, people with long term conditions, families, children and young people, working age people (including those recently retired and students), people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable and people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia).
It was good for providing an effective, caring and responsive service.
Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:
- Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses. Information about safety was recorded, monitored, appropriately reviewed and addressed.
- Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
- Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
- Urgent appointments were usually available on the day they were requested.
The areas where the provider must make improvements are:
- Ensure safe systems are in place for the management of medicines. Repeat prescriptions to be reviewed and passed on to GPs to review where medication reviews are due.
- Ensure recruitment arrangements include all the necessary employment checks for all staff, including staff who acted as chaperones.
In addition the provider should:
- Provide training for staff to ensure they are equipped with the knowledge and skills to effectively perform their job role. This includes training in chaperoning patients, equality and diversity and fire training.
- Ensure a Legionella risk assessment is completed to reduce the risk of infection to staff and patients.
- Ensure portable electrical equipment is routinely tested.
- Put in place procedures for dealing with emergencies including the action to take in the absence of a defibrillator.
- Ensure a fire risk assessment is completed to maintain fire safety.
- Improve opportunities for interaction between the two practice nurses and wider clinical team, to ensure they do not work in isolation.
Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)
Chief Inspector of General Practice