Archived: Irnham Lodge Surgery

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Irnham Lodge Surgery on 20 May 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Specifically, we found the practice to be good for providing safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led services. It was also good for providing services for older people, people with long-term conditions, mothers, babies, children and young people, working-age population and those recently retired, people in vulnerable circumstances who may have poor access to primary care and people experiencing poor mental health.

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, monitored, appropriately reviewed and addressed.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed, including those relating to recruitment checks, infection control and medicines management.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance. Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and any further training needs had been identified and planned.

• 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.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and that 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.
• 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.

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

Importantly the provider should:

• Ensure the policy and procedure for safety of GPs bags is carried out including the checks on the calibration of equipment and the processes for checking in and the checking out of prescriptions pads and medicines.

• Ensure that patient’s written consent is obtained before specific treatments and clinical interventions are carried out.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP 

Chief Inspector of General Practice