Archived: Orient Practice Also known as Forest Community Health

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Orient Practice on 17 January 2017. Overall the practice is rated as requires improvement.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

• Audits were single cycle; changes were made as a result but improvements were not monitored.
• Patients rated the practice below local and national averages for several aspects of care.
• The practice had identified less than 1% of the patient list as a carer.
• 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 been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• There were weekly reviews of patient consultation notes and referrals leaving the practice to monitor consistency and that guidelines were followed and learning was shared.
• The practice’s QOF and exception reporting results were comparable with the CCG and national averages.
• 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 and extended hours appointments available each 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.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Review the practice system for identifying and recording patient carers to ensure that adequate support is provided to them.

• Review the quality improvement programme, including clinical audits and re-audits to monitor improvement to patient outcomes.

• Work to improve the GP patient satisfaction scores.

• Continue to work to improve patient uptake of breast and bowel screening.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice