Dunelm Medical Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dunelm Medical Practice on 14 September 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 been trained to provide them with 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.
• 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 duty of candour is a set of specific legal requirements that providers of services must follow when things go wrong with care and treatment).

There were several areas of outstanding practice:

• The practice worked with many organisations to increase quality and reduce inequalities. This included working with the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) to convert non confidential information into braille. Such as: health promotion information.

• The percentage of patients on the diabetes register, with a record of a foot examination and risk classification was lower than the CCG average and the national average in 2014-2015. We were provided with evidence of an 80% improvement in this data as a consequence of training a health care assistant in foot examinations. Improving the uptake of the podiatrist appointments at each site by tasking the receptionists to contact patients directly. 116 more diabetic, or pre-diabetic patients had had their feet examined from 2015-2016.

• The practice had a ‘Health Trainer’ attached to the practice to support patients to improve their ‘Well-being for life’ commissioned by Durham County Council.

• The percentage of women aged 25-64 whose notes record that cervical screening test had been performed in the preceding 5 years (01/04/2014 to 31/03/2015) was lower than the CCG average and the national average. We saw evidence of the changes made by the practice to increase this uptake. They had taken advice from Cancer Research and now send their invites on pink paper which had increased their uptake by 11%, from April 2016-August 2016.

• The practice had a ‘Pathway to Work’ service for patients to access for support to gain employment or to return to employment.

• The practice was involved with a national humanitarian project working with the local authority to provide suitable clinics and screening for this vulnerable group of patients.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice