Hadwen Health

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Hadwen Medical Practice on 21 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 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.
• The practice provided the initial health assessments for all children entering local authority care homes and known to Gloucestershire social services agencies. Templates developed by the practice were adopted country wide and led to faster information recording rates. In 2014, the Care Quality Commission noted that the practice had a clear approach and good processes in place to ensure that their vulnerable child databases were kept up-to-date.
• 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.
• When there were unintended or unexpected safety incidents, patients received reasonable support, truthful information, a verbal and written apology and were told about any actions to improve processes to prevent the same thing happening again.

We found one area of outstanding practice:

• The patient participation group (PPG) was well engaged and represented across all age groups, including two 16 year olds and two carers also engaged and providing a contribution. The PPG suggestions for changes to the practice management team had been acted upon and as well as this, the group had raised awareness about patient services. For example, following PPG suggestions, the practice changed the release time of its next day appointments to better suit patient needs, and invested in telephone monitoring software that alerted staff whenever a caller had been waiting for an extended period of time.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice