Archived: Boundary Court Surgery

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Boundary Court Surgery on 01 July 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Specifically, we found the practice to be good for providing well-led, safe, effective, caring and responsive services. It was also good for providing services for older people; people with long-term conditions; families, children and young people; working age people (including those recently retired and students); people whose circumstances make them vulnerable; and people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia).

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

• Shortfalls we identified at our last inspection of the practice in July 2014 had been remedied by the new provider since it took over Boundary Court Surgery on 01 October 2014.
• There was a clear leadership structure and revised operational policies and procedures in place. Staff felt supported by the new management team. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
• 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, including safeguarding, infection control, medicines management and staffing.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance. The provider had increased staffing levels. Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and were supported to continue their professional development and training.
• Patients were treated with courtesy and respect and they said they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand. Complaints were dealt with in a timely manner and the practice took learning points from complaints to improve the service.
• Patients said they found it much easier to make an appointment since the new provider took over the practice; that urgent appointments were available the same day; and that there was continuity of care.
• The practice was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

• Since the new provider took over Boundary Court Surgery on 01 October 2014 there had been marked improvements in the practice’s patients’ access to primary care resulting in fewer A&E attendances and emergency admissions to hospital, and more planned admissions. The practice achieved a Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) score of 92.7% in 2014-15 compared with a score of 90.2% in 2013-14, despite the new provider taking over the practice half way through the year. QOF is a voluntary incentive scheme for GP practices in the UK. It rewards practices for managing some of the most common long-term conditions and for the implementation of preventative measures.

However there were areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.

Importantly the provider should:

• Further raise patients’ awareness of the availability of the telephone translation service.
• Ensure the name of the designated Health and Safety representative for the practice is displayed.