3 February 2016
During a routine inspection
Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Humshaugh and Wark Medical Group on 3 February 2016. 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 report incidents and near misses. Lessons were learned when incidents and near misses occurred.
- Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
- 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.
- 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 were able to get an appointment with a GP when they needed one.
- Extended hours surgeries were offered up to 7:30pm one evening each week at each surgery.
- Urgent appointments were available on the day they were requested.
- 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 provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour.
We saw one area of outstanding practice:
- Patients could access appointments and services in a way and a time that suited them. Data from the National GP Patient Survey published in July 2015 showed that patients rated the practice highly for accessibility. For example, 100% said the last appointment they got was convenient (CCG average of 93%, national average of 92%) and 99% found it easy to get through to the surgery by phone (CCG average 77%, national average 73%).
There are three areas where the provider should make improvements:
The provider should:
- Review the records and storage of blank prescriptions to ensure that these are stored in line with national guidance and kept securely at all times.
- Monitor the new process of signing repeat prescriptions before they are issued to patients. This is in order to demonstrate these improvements become embedded into practise in the long term.
- Review the management of complaints at the practice; verbal complaints should be recorded in line with their agreed complaints policy.
Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)
Chief Inspector of General Practice