13 June 2016
During a routine inspection
Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Faith House Surgery on 13 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 named 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 areas of outstanding practice:
- The practice had established pathways to provide holistic care for older people that included consideration of their social needs. For example, clinical staff worked one-to-one with patients to implement preventative health promotion strategies in their everyday lives to reduce the risk of falls, fractures and pneumonia. Staff were proactive in maintaining contact with such patients and actively encouraged them to seek help and advice in a way that empowered them and reduced the risk they would not contact the practice for fear of wasting staff time.
- The practice had introduced a new clinical role, an urgent care practitioner, led by a qualified paramedic. This member of staff provided additional capacity to treat a number of illnesses and injuries. This meant patients had more rapid access to appointments and provided GPs with more capacity to see patients with complex needs.
Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)
Chief Inspector of General Practice