Archived: Village Medical Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Village Medical Practice on 26th June 2015. Overall the practice is rated as requires improvement.

Specifically, we found the practice to require improvement for providing safe, effective, and well led services. It also required improvement for providing services for the population groups older people, people with long term conditions, families, children and young people, working age people including those recently retired and students, vulnerable people and people experiencing poor mental health including dementia. We found the practice was good for providing caring and responsive 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 and monitored.
• Risks to patients were assessed with the exception of those relating to recruitment checks.
• Data showed patient outcomes were average for the locality. Although some audits had been carried out, we saw no evidence that audits were driving improvement in performance to improve patient outcomes.
• Data showed the practice was rated better that the locality or national average for patient satisfaction.
• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• Accurate patient records were not kept.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
• Urgent appointments were available on the day they were requested.
• The practice did not hold regular governance meetings.

The areas where the provider must make improvements are:

• Ensure recruitment arrangements include all necessary employment checks for all staff.
• Ensure audits of practice are undertaken, including completed clinical audit cycles.
• Ensure the safeguarding lead is appropriately qualified and trained to undertake the role.
• Ensure all patient records are accurate, up to date and kept securely.
• Ensure information is accessed by a uniquely identifiable computer log in.
• Ensure legionella risk assessments and checks are carried out.

In addition the provider should:

• Have a clear vision for the future of the practice.
• Have appropriate plans in place to deal with a long term absence of the GP.
• Be proactive in ensuring immunisation of the patients for protection against infectious disease.
• Have an automated external defibrillator (AED) at the practice.
• Check medicine fridge temperatures in accordance with the practice policy.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice