Archived: Siam Surgery

We conducted this inspection to follow up on compliance actions following our last inspection on 16 October 2013 when we found there was not an effective complaints system available.

During our inspection on 14 March 2014 we found that improvements had been made.

We found that information about the complaints procedure was available on the surgery website and on display in the waiting room and lobby area at the surgery.

During our inspection we spoke with three people who used the surgery, none of whom said they had any reason to complain. One person told us, 'I would know how to complain. I would write to them or look on the website.' We spoke with one member of reception staff who appropriately advised us how they would respond to a person who informed them they wanted to complain.

We reviewed the records of four complaints and saw evidence that these were acknowledged, investigated and a response given to the complainant within the timescales given in the provider's policy. Complaints were reviewed at the partner's meetings and learning from complaints was shared at other meetings as appropriate. This meant that the surgery learned from complaints and made changes in order to improve the service provided.

We saw that staff received appropriate training and support. We spoke with one clinician who told us, 'I was supported by the surgery to do my Specialist Practice Degree course.'

We saw that the surgery had an effective system in place to identify, assess and manage risks to the health, safety and welfare of people who used the service. The practice manager told us that the surgery was transferring to a new computer system. We saw that a comprehensive plan was in place in order to minimise the risks during this process.

We found that the surgery did not have an effective system in place in order to acknowledge, investigate and respond to complaints. One person we spoke with told us, 'I made a complaint. It was acknowledged but I had no feedback after that.'

Staff had access to guidance regarding the safe and secure management of information. This was included in the staff induction and was part of their mandatory training. One member of staff said, 'I have had in-house training on this area by the senior nurse who is extremely knowledgeable.'