Archived: Glebe Surgery

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Glebe Surgery on 12 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.

• The practice had adopted the ‘Year of Care’ approach to care for patients with long term conditions which aimed to give patients better self-management of their condition.

• 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 allowed a greater degree of flexibility in appointment times to elderly patients using the local public transport system as it could be infrequent.

• 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.

• In 2015 the practice was awarded a ‘Pacesetter’ award for their care of children following the use of a template to assist GPs and nurses in their assessment of sick children. (The Pacesetter award programme is designed to highlight, acknowledge and celebrate the initiatives that GP practices are putting in place to provide excellent primary care to children, young people, their families and carers).

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

• An additional 3,500 patients registered at the practice when a nearby GP practice closed. The practice showed us evidence of the comprehensive strategy they had established. This had ensured existing patients were not affected and new patients experienced a seamless transition from one practice to the other. This included innovative ways of transferring electronic patient notes because the other practice’s system was not compatible with the Glebe Surgery system. The practice told us of the commitment of their staff at this time which included working additional hours and learning new administrative roles. The practice told us they were proud that their patient survey results had continued to be significantly above national average during this time and that staff morale remained positive.

The areas where the provider should make improvement is:

• Ensure compliance with the practice protocol for fridge temperatures when storing vaccines.

• Ensure the legionella risk assessment is kept up to date.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice