Archived: Guildowns Group Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Guildowns Group Practice on 24 February 2016. This reports refers to the location of Stoughton Road Surgery. Overall the location is rated as requires improvement.

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

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

• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment, however the practice could not provide evidence of all appropriate training for example safeguarding training.

• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses. However, reviews and investigations were not thorough enough. Patients did not always receive an apology.
• Patients were at risk of harm because systems and processes were not in place to keep them safe. For example recruitment checks, staff training, medicines management, fire and legionella risk assessments.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand. However, recording of reviews and investigations were not thorough enough. Patients did not always receive an apology.
• The practice had a number of policies and procedures to govern activity, but there was no system in place to ensure that these were up to date or appropriate for the location where they were in use.

The areas where the provider must make improvements are:

• Ensure that all complaints and safety incidents and their investigation are recorded.
• Ensure that all complaints and safety incidents are investigated thoroughly and ensure that patients affected receive reasonable support and an apology and that learning is shared appropriately to support improvement.
• Ensure recruitment arrangements include all necessary employment checks for all staff, including that a Disclosure and Barring Service check or risk assessment showing a check is not required is in place for all staff.
• Ensure that a system of annual staff appraisals is implemented and that training is completed as appropriate including safeguarding.
• Ensure that policies are up to date and specific to the practice.
• Take action to address identified concerns with fire safety and legionella as identified in the fire risk and legionella risk assessments.
• Ensure that systems for storing medicines and vaccines safely are in place, in particular monitoring that fridge temperatures remain within recommended range.
• Ensure systems are in place to ensure clinical equipment is calibrated and portable electrical equipment is safe and used appropriately.
• Ensure that the protocol for controlled medicine precriptions is followed.
• Investigate ways to increase engagement with patients, for example re-establish a patient participation group to provide patient input to the practice.

In addition the provider should:

• Continue to review telephone access to the surgery.
• Review the use of patient specific directions.
• Continue to proactively identify carers.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice