Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice
This practice is rated as Good overall. We previously inspected the service on 6 January 2015 and rated the service Good overall.
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 Keelinge House Surgery on 20 November 2017 as part of our inspection programme.
At this inspection we found:
- The practice had systems, processes and practices in place to protect people from potential abuse. Staff were aware of how to raise a safeguarding concern and had access to internal leads and contacts for external safeguarding agencies.
- The practice had 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.
- There were systems in place for identifying, assessing and mitigating most risks to the health and safety of patients and staff. However, not all risks to patients and staff had been formally assessed.
- 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 partners had reviewed and increased its workforce and employed additional clinicians with a varied skill mix to help meet the health and social needs of patients and the demand for access to appointments.
- There was a structured programme for staff to receive essential training to enable them to carry out their duties safely. We saw that training had been completed or planned.
- Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
- Patients commented on good access to same day appointments but told us appointments with GPs did not always run on time.
- The practice had suitable facilities and was well equipped and maintained to treat patients and meet their needs.
- The practice worked proactively with the patient participation group (PPG) to meet the needs of their patients.
- There was a focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.
The areas where the provider must make improvements as they are in breach of regulations are:
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Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care. For details, please refer to the requirement notice at the end of this report.
The areas where the provider should make improvements are:
- Implement a formal induction programme for all new staff.
- Improve the prescription tracking system to minimise the risk of fraud.
- Explore how waiting times for patients can be reduced.
- Clarify roles and responsibilities within the management structure.
- Regularly review policies and protocols to assess that they are governing activity.
- Further explore how on-going improvement work can be used to address patient feedback.
Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)
Chief Inspector of General Practice