Archived: Bloxwich Medical Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

This practice is rated as Good overall. The practice was rated as Good at our previous inspection on 16 October 2014).

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Requires Improvement

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? - Good

As part of our inspection process, we also look at the quality of care for specific population groups. The population groups are rated as:

Older People – Good

People with long-term conditions – Good

Families, children and young people – Good

Working age people (including those recently retired and students – Good

People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable – Good

People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia) - Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Bloxwich Medical Practice on 14 November 2017. We carried out this inspection as part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

• The practice had systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learnt from them and improved their processes.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed, with the exception of those relating to recruitment checks and patient specific directions.
• The practice worked closely with other health and social care professionals involved in patient’s care. Regular meetings were held with the community nursing teams and palliative care teams to discuss the care of patients who were frail / vulnerable or who were receiving end of life care, and with the health visitor to discuss any children in need or on the at risk register.
• The practice had responded to an unmet need in the local community and carried out eight-week baby checks on behalf of two neighbouring practices where this service was not available.
• The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation. The practice had carried out a number of audits which demonstrated health improvement activity. The practice was a training practice for GP Registrars to gain experience in general practice and family medicine.

The areas where the provider must make improvements as they are in breach of regulations are:

• Ensure recruitment procedures are established and operated effectively to ensure only fit and proper persons are employed. For details, please refer to the requirement notice at the end of this report.
• Ensure care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients. For details, please refer to the requirement notice at the end of this report.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Continue to review and update the risk assessments.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice