Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice
This practice is rated as outstanding overall. (Previous inspection October 2015 – Outstanding)
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? - Outstanding
As part of our inspection process, we also look at the quality of care for specific population groups. Due to two key questions being rated as outstanding, this applies to all population groups which are rated as:
Older People –Outstanding
People with long-term conditions – Outstanding
Families, children and young people – Outstanding
Working age people (including those recently retired and students – Outstanding
People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable – Outstanding
People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia) -Outstanding
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Providence Surgery on 20 to 22 February 2018.
At this inspection we found:
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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.
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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.
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Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
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Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
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There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.
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The practice had introduced a call centre hub to enable patient access and implemented workflow optimisation to manage correspondence received in a timely manner.
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A GP from the practice visited the local night shelter for homeless people on Monday to Friday evenings to provide medical care.
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The practice provided a service once a week on a local Health Bus for patients who were rough sleepers.
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The leadership team had been restructured since the mergers with other practices to provide designated leads on areas such as long term conditions across all sites.
We saw areas of outstanding practice which included:
All GPs had received specialist training on substance misuse and detoxification protocols. Care for patients with mental health and/or substance misuse was shared with the mental health team and detoxification programmes were offered at the practice. This ensured consistency of care and consistent parameter for the type of care provided.
The practice had in-house MRI scanning, X-ray and ultrasound facilities to enable patients to have examinations carried out promptly. This was self-funded by the practice.
The practice worked with a local school to provide care and treatment for young people.
The practice had developed and employed staff to provide a Frailty and Anticipatory Care Team (FACT) consisting of paramedics, a practice nurse and a health care assistant. Leaders had the experience, capability and integrity to deliver the practice strategy and address risks to it.
They were knowledgeable about issues and priorities relating to the quality and future of services. They understood the challenges and were addressing them.
The practice had effective processes to develop leadership capacity and skills, including planning for the future leadership of the practice.
The areas where the provider should make improvements are:
Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice