Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Victor Street Surgery on 21 April 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good .
Specifically, we found the practice to be, it was good for providing responsive, effective, caring and well-led and services for older people, people with long term conditions, families, children and young people, working age people, people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable and people experiencing poor mental health.
It required improvement for providing safe services.
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.
- Risks to patients were not effectively assessed and monitored. These included recruitment checks, medicines management, staffing, fire safety and infection control.
- Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance.
- Most staff received training appropriate to their roles and any further training needs had been identified and planned.
- Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
- A recent survey showed 94% of patients said they had confidence and trust in the GP treating them;
- Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
- Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and that there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
- The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
- There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management.
- The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
However there were areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.
Importantly the provider must:
- Ensure recruitment arrangements include all necessary employment checks for all staff;
- Carry out fire and legionella risk assessments;
- Ensure safeguarding, basic life support and fire safety training is undertaken for relevant staff;
- Service medicine/vaccination refrigerators and calibrate their temperature gauges;
- Ensure prescriptions are kept securely and only accessible to authorised people; and
- Identify, manage and monitor effective infection prevention and control systems.
In addition the provider should:
- Have a consent policy available for staff to refer to.
Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)
Chief Inspector of General Practice