25 May 2017
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Black Country Family Practice on 22 July 2016. The overall rating for the practice was Good. However, for providing responsive service the practice was rated as requires improvement. The full comprehensive report on the July 2016 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Black Country Family Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
This inspection was an announced focused inspection carried out on 25 May 2017 to confirm that the practice had carried out their plan to improve in areas that we identified in our previous inspection. This report covers our findings in relation to those improvements made since our last inspection on 22 July 2016.
At our previous inspection on 22 July 2016, we rated the practice as requires improvement for providing responsive services. The national GP patient survey showed that patient’s satisfaction with how they could access care and treatment was significantly below local and national averages. The practice was able to demonstrate improvement in some of the areas identified. In other areas the practice had considered options to improve and was planning to implement improvement strategies. We also saw one area where the practice had not explored any strategies to improve. This was in regards to improving telephone access.
- During our previous inspection in July 2016 we received mixed feedback on access to appointments. Some patients said they had difficulties obtaining an appointment. At this inspection we were told that one of the GP partners had recently retired and the practice was unable to recruit another GP. This posed further challenges to meet patient needs. After considering a number of options to improve, the practice planned to join a corporate provider which would enable the surgery to access further resources to help effectively meet patient needs.
- During our previous inspection we saw that the practice achievement on the GP national patient survey were particularly low for ease of getting through on the telephone. At this follow up inspection the practice was unable to demonstrate that they had explored any strategies to improve. The practice assured us that they intended to carry out a patient survey to understand problems around telephone access to better understand the issues so that informed decisions could be made.
- When we inspected the practice in July 2016, results from the national patient survey showed many patients waited longer to be seen for their appointment than the CCG average. To improve, one of the GP partners had piloted an approach by blocking off 15 minutes off in the morning and in the afternoon to help them catch up. Data we looked at showed improvements had been achieved and the practice was planning to implement this for other GPs.
- During our previous inspection we found information relating to making a complaint was not easily available as there were no notices or leaflets on display. At this inspection we saw posters displayed in different parts of the reception and waiting areas.
- During our previous inspection we saw that the practice had identified 111 patients as carers (0.8% of the practice list). At this follow up inspection we saw 132 (1% of the practice list) had been identified as carers.
In addition the provider should:
- Explore ways to improve telephone access.
Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)
Chief Inspector of General Practice