Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Yare Valley Medical Practice on 6 October 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.
We found the practice to be safe, effective, caring, responsive to people’s needs and well-led. The quality of care experienced by older people, by people with long term conditions and by families, children and young people is good. Working age people, those in vulnerable circumstances and people experiencing poor mental health also receive good quality care.
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, with the exception of those relating to recruitment checks.
- 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 there were urgent appointments available the same day and that there was continuity of care, however we were told it was not always easy to make an appointment with the GP of their choice.
- The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
- There was a leadership structure and staff felt supported by the partners and business manager. The practice sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
We saw several area of outstanding practice:
- The business manager had designed a template for patients with a diagnosis of dementia, this included amongst other things detailed patient identification, their next of kin contact information, legal representation information and health and medication information. This provided practice staff with instant access to any information required should the patients’ health suddenly deteriorate.
- The business manager provided support for vulnerable patients to complete benefit and other claims forms both electronically and written.
However there were areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.
Importantly the provider should;
- Ensure recruitment arrangements include all necessary employment checks for all staff.
- Ensure that staff that undertake chaperone duties had received a disclosure and barring check (DBS) or had a written risk assessment completed.
- Ensure two cycles of a clinical audit are completed by GPs.
Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)
Chief Inspector of General Practice