Archived: Tamar Medical Centre

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Tamar Medical Centre on 25 January 2016. Overall the practice is rated as Good.

Please note that when referring to information throughout this report, for example any reference to the Quality and Outcomes Framework data, this relates to the most recent information available to the CQC at that time.

Our key findings were as follows:

• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns and to report incidents and near misses. Information about safety was recorded, monitored, appropriately reviewed and addressed.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed. Risks to staff were well assessed. For example, staff had been given personal panic alarms and a protocol was in place that stated a minimum of two staff must be present for opening and closing of the building.
• 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.

• The practice worked closely with other organisations and with the local community in planning how services were provided to ensure that they meet patients’ needs. For example, a community support group for diabetic patients was formed by the practice.

• Patients said they were treated with 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 told us they could get an appointment when they needed one. Urgent appointments were 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 by the management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff, patients and third party organisations, which it acted on.

• Domiciliary care (care administered in a patient’s home) included chronic disease management, immunisations, new patient checks and international normalised ratio (INR) checks (INR is used to monitor patients who are being treated with the blood-thinning medication warfarin).

We saw some areas of outstanding practice:

• The practice established a diabetes support service for the community. Monthly meetings were held and the average attendance was around 30 patients. The practice employed a specialist diabetes nurse and demonstrated improvements made to the health of diabetic patients. The QOF performance indicators for diabetes had improved from 58.3% in 2013/14 to 84.9% in 2014/15.

The practice had established a ‘singing for lung health’ group in the community targeted at improving the health and well-being of patients with a respiratory condition. The group extended a welcome to patients who experienced social isolation. Weekly meetings were held and the average attendance was around 25 patients.  

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice