Archived: The Amwell Street Surgery

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Amwell Street Surgery on 28 June 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.

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

• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had been trained to provide them with 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. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a GP and there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments 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 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:

The practice provided ‘Just in Case’ boxes in the homes of patients receiving palliative care to avoid distress caused by poor access to medications in the period the practice was closed, by anticipating the patient’s symptom control needs and enabling the availability of key medications.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Continue to ensure appropriate precautions are in place to minimise conversations being overheard when the treatment room is temporarily divided into a nurse consultation area and a treatment area.

• Ensure actions are taken to mitigate risks identified following risk assessments, for example fire risk assessments.

• Continue to develop the Patient Participation Group.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice