England’s Chief Inspector of General Practice has taken a Sefton GP practice out of special measures following improvements in the quality of its services.
Seaforth Village Surgery in Seaforth, Sefton, Liverpool was rated Inadequate under the Care Quality Commission's new approach to the inspection of GP practices following an inspection in November 2014 and was put into special measures.
In the latest inspection, a specialist team of inspectors found that the practice had improved in all five key areas. The overall rating for the practice has moved from Inadequate to Good. Inspectors rated the practice Good for providing services to all population groups.
A copy of the report from this inspection has been published on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-714674269.
Professor Steve Field, Chief Inspector of General Practice, said:
"It is clear that Seaforth Village Surgery has made significant improvements since our original inspection when we had serious concerns relating to the safe delivery of services and the leadership of the practice.
"With the support of NHS England and NHS South Sefton CCG, the practice has been able to make huge improvements, and is now providing an accessible, safe and clinically effective service.
“I am delighted to announce that Seaforth Village Surgery will come out of special measures and I congratulate them on the progress that they have made so far.”
Sue McMillan, Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice for the North of England, said:
“When we inspected the practice in September we found improvements had been made in all areas. There was an open and transparent approach to reporting significant events and the practice had developed a strong learning culture.
“Action had been taken to improve continuity of care with a regular GP working at the practice five days a week and the previous shortfalls in recruitment processes had been addressed.
“An effective system was in place to monitor the quality of services being provided and the practice actively sought feedback from patients to help drive service improvements.”
When CQC inspected Seaforth Village Surgery in November 2014, inspectors identified seven areas for improvement. The practice was rated Inadequate for being safe and well-led and Requires Improvement for being caring, effective and responsive.
During the latest inspection in September 2015, CQC found significant improvements had been made and all areas were rated as Good.
The practice had established a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. Staff understood their responsibilities to raise concerns and to report incidents and near misses, and systems were in place to ensure incidents were recorded and investigated.
Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidelines. Patients spoke positively about the practice and told inspectors they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP.
Staff had received appropriate training and further training needs had been identified and planned for.
The practice had as part of their contract, a target to reduce unnecessary emergency admissions to secondary care. CQC has told the practice that they should continue to ensure that patient’s personalised care plans are reviewed by a GP on a regular basis to prevent unnecessary hospital admissions.
Ends
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Find out more
Read reports from our checks on the standards at Seaforth Village Surgery.