Archived: Whitechapel Health Centre

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Whitechapel Health Centre on 19 April 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.
• The practice had a 0% exception reporting rate.
• The practice had an in-house Bengali translator that managed the recall system and translated for the patient participation group.
• 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 in different languages 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.
• To engage hard to reach patients on the topic of mental health, the practice worked with a charity to produce a video to tackle the issues, this video was shared with 50 practices, translated into three different languages and is used as a training tool by seven NHS trusts.

We saw an area of outstanding practice

• Due to the practice having a low proportion of patients completing bowel screening tests, reception staff were trained to use bowel screening kits and the practice produced a video in Bengali, which was shared with other practices in the borough of Tower Hamlets with a high population of Bengali speaking patients that explained how to use the kits and the reason behind the testing. This video was played in the waiting area and a link to the video was on the practice website. Reception staff would phone all patients who had not completed the bowel screening and spoke them through the process as well as explaining the importance of the test.

The area the practice should make improvement is:

• Work to improve the GP patient satisfaction scores.

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice