24 March 2015
During a routine inspection
Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr Harminderjeet Surdhar’s Practice, Fiveways Health Centre on 24 March 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.
Specifically, we found the practice to be good for providing well-led, effective, caring and responsive services. It was also good for providing services for people with long term conditions, families, children and young people, working age people, older people, people in vulnerable groups and people experiencing poor mental health. It required improvement for providing safe services.
Our key findings across all the areas we inspected 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, with the exception of those relating to recruitment checks.
- 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.
- Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
- Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and that there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
The areas where the provider must make improvements are:
- Ensure recruitment arrangements include all necessary employment checks for all staff including any locum GPs or nursing staff who work at the practice.
- Ensure that sufficient numbers of staff are on duty including cover arrangements when practice nurse or health care assistants are on leave.
In addition the provider should:
- Ensure that the GP completes the necessary training to obtain a level 3 qualification in the safeguarding of vulnerable adults.
- Implement systems to ensure that staff are aware that the vaccine fridge should not be unplugged.
- Implement systems to ensure clinical waste is stored securely and not accessible to patients or other visitors to the practice.
- Ensure that all portable electrical appliances are routinely tested and display stickers indicating the last testing date.
- Ensure that systems are in place to ensure staff receive updates regarding best practice and clinical guidelines
- Implement a system for logging, investigating and acting upon verbal complaints received at the practice.
Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)
Chief Inspector of General Practice