Castle Street Medical Centre

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Castle Street Medical Centre on 31 October 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

• There was an open and transparent approach to safety within the practice. Effective systems were in place to report, record and learn from significant events. Learning was shared with staff and external stakeholders where appropriate.

• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.

• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance.

• Outcomes for patients were generally above or in line with local and national averages.

• Training was provided for staff which equipped them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.

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

• Patients told us they were able to get an appointment with a GP when they needed one, with urgent appointments available on the same day.

• Feedback from patients and those close to them was overwhelmingly positive about the care they received and how staff treated them.We were told of several examples where staff had gone the extra mile to deliver care that exceeded their expectations. There was a strong, visible, patient centered culture in the practice and staff were highly motivated and inspired to provide care in a kind manner which promoted education and self-management of long term conditions which always took patients cultural, religious and social needs into account.

• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns and learning from complaints was shared with staff and stakeholders.

• The practice worked closely with the Patients Participation Group (PPG) to maintain an effective line of communication with patients and develop areas of the practice.This had led to several links to community groups and the PPG had developed a guide to the town which was available to residents through the library.

• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs. Recent expansion had ensured space was available in which to provide a range of services to patients.

• The practice was a training practice and had retained two trainees once qualified, who had trained within the practice.The practice had identified this as key to good succession planning and was looking at training people from specialties such as pharmacists to encourage them into general practice.

• The recent merger with a trust had been seen by staff as a positive step in securing the future of the practice and allowing further development and closer working with other practices provided by the trust.

• 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.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice