17 November 2015
During a routine inspection
Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Harambee Surgery on 17th November 2015. 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.
- There was a structured system for providing staff in all roles with annual appraisals of their work and planning their training needs.
- 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.
- Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
- 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 and had confidence in the management team. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
We saw several areas of outstanding practice including:
- Patients nearing the end of life were visited daily by the GP and provided with GPs contact numbers to support the patients and their families through this difficult time.
- Home visits were provided to mental health patients who may have social phobias and may find visiting the practice stressful.
- GPs provided Individual alcohol/ drug detox for patients to provide prompt support for the management of their addiction.
- Collaboration with the practice’s ‘Friends of Harambee’ resulted in health promotion activities and education for all groups of patients. The practice also worked closely with the local school to promote health education.
However there were areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.
Importantly the provider should
- Ensure locum packs are up to date and support the GP with relevant information.
- Ensure risk assessments are completed for all aspects of the practice.
Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)
Chief Inspector of General Practice