Archived: Woodlands Road Surgery

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Woodlands Road Surgery on 15 November 2016. We visited the main surgery on Woodlands Road, we did not visit the Acklam Road branch surgery during the inspection. 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. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns.
• Patients said they were able to get same day appointments and pre bookable appointments were available.
• 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.
• The practice had an active virtual Patient Reference Group which worked with the practice to make improvements.

We saw an area of outstanding practice;

• The practice operated a same day ‘Dr First’ appointment system. Each clinician managed their workflow from their telephone triage screen and appointments were booked throughout the day from 8am to 6pm. Since the introduction of the Dr First system the practice performance for unplanned admissions and attendance at A/E had improved. Before the system was introduced in January 2013 the practice was ranked seventh out of 22 for overall spend with 22 being the lowest spend practice, this included costs for unplanned admissions and attendance at A/E. At the end of October 2016 the practice was ranked 20 out of the 22 practices for overall spend; this included a reduction in the number of unplanned admissions and A/E attendances.

However there were areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.

Importantly the provider should:

• Implement a planned clinical audit programme to ensure audit cycles are completed.

• Monitor the process for seeking consent for minor surgery procedures.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice