Archived: Meadowside Medical Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Meadowside Medical Practice on 18 November 2015. 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 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.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a GP or nurse and that 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 some areas of outstanding practice:

• The practice cared for a number of patient groups who experienced challenging health needs, and had responded well to these needs.For example they liaised closely with the local Islamic girls’ college to ensure their residents health needs were met appropriately. The female nurse practitioner telephoned the college each morning to triage health concerns and had three appointment slots each day set aside for these patients to access. The practice had also recognised the difficulties in prescribing medicines presented by dietary restrictions faced by this population group and had acted by raising awareness of medicines appropriate for a Halal diet.

• The GPs provided GP urgent care services at the local accident and emergency department, which allowed a streamlined transition for their patients accessing emergency care back into primary care. The GPs would frequently visit their patients while they were in-patients enabling care plans to be put in place immediately.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Ensure policy documents and risk assessments fully take into account the role of chaperone for non-clinical staff. For staff who have not had a DBS check undertaken, documents should clearly state that they will not be left alone with patients, for example should the clinician leave the room.

• Ensure staff receive regular training around infection prevention and control.

• Ensure that the regular checks carried out for medicine stock levels and expiry dates, as well as those to ensure emergency equipment is functioning are documented and recorded.

• Ensure all written responses to complaints include information of whom to contact should the complainant be unhappy with the investigation, and include feedback from complaints in staff meetings in order to maximise learning from them.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice