Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Stockbridge Surgery on 26 July 2016. At this inspection the overall rating for the practice was requires improvement. The full comprehensive report on the 26 July 2016 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Stockbridge Surgery on our website at www.cqc.org.uk .
This inspection was an announced focused follow up inspection carried out on 20 July 2017 to confirm that the practice had carried out their action plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breaches in regulations that we identified in our previous inspection in July 2016. This report covers our findings in relation to those requirements and also additional improvements made since our last inspection.
Overall the practice is now rated as good.
At the inspection in July 2016 we found there were areas of practice where the provider needed to make improvements. This included:
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The practice must ensure that clinical waste is managed in line with its policy and protocol. In particular all clinical waste bags and sharps bins must be marked with the postcode of the practice and the date on which the packages were sealed.
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The provider must ensure all appropriate recruitment checks are undertaken and recorded prior to the employment of new staff including obtaining satisfactory evidence of conduct in previous employment.
At the inspection in July 2016 we said the provider should:
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Ensure that they identify and support carers appropriately.
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Encourage and support the formation of the new patient participation group.
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Improve their performance with regards to the management of patients who have diabetes.
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Ensure that all policies and procedures clearly state the date when those were written. It should also be clear when a review date is include whether that is a ‘due date’ or the date when a review was completed. This includes the practice’s written dispensary standard operating procedures.
At this inspection in July 2017 we found:
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All waste was securely stored and labelled in line with the practice policy and national guidance. The waste management policy had been updated.
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A recruitment pack had been introduced which included a mandatory checklist for employment. An inspection of four files demonstrated that this checklist was being used. A welcome pack for staff had been introduced which included the above checklist, job description, contract of employment, training information, induction documentation, information on emergency procedures and contact numbers for the team and local safeguarding teams.
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Changes to the identification of carers had resulted in the numbers of carers increasing from 0.5% of the patient population to 2%.
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A new patient participation group had been formed.
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Significant steps had been taken to improve the service being offered to patients with diabetes.
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Policies and standard operation procedures had been reviewed and amended to make the review dates clearer on the document.
Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)
Chief Inspector of General Practice