Archived: Dr Ainsworth & Partners Also known as The Harlequin Surgery

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at the practice of Dr Ainsworth & Partners on 5 January 2017. Overall the practice is rated as good.

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 assessed and well managed, including those relating to recruitment checks.

• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance. Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and any further training needs had been identified and planned.

• Data showed patient outcomes were comparable to those locally and nationally.
• Feedback from patients about their care was strongly positive,

• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.

• The practice implemented suggestions for improvements and made changes to the way it delivered services as a result of feedback from patients.

• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.

• Patient’s views were in the main positive when asked how easy it was to make an appointment including availability of same day appointments.

• 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.

The areas where the provider must make improvement are:

• Arrangements were in place to safeguard adults and children from abuse that reflected relevant legislation and local requirements and policies were accessible to all staff. We noted however there was no formal system in place to routinely review and monitor children on the at risk register.

The provider should also:

• Consider assessing the need for all electrical equipment including computers to be checked in line with good practice guidance.
• Consider a formal means of disseminating safety alerts such as drug safety alerts and alerts from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to all relevant staff.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice