Archived: Dr S G Hussain Also known as Wilberforce Health Centre

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr S G Hussain (The Wilberforce Surgery) on 10 November 2015. Overall the practice is rated as requires improvement.

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. However, reviews and investigations were not thorough enough. People did not always receive a verbal and written apology.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed, with the exception of those relating to recruitment checks.
• Data showed patient outcomes were low for the locality. Although some audits had been carried out, we saw no evidence that audits were driving improvement in performance to improve patient outcomes.
• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• The practice had a number of policies and procedures to govern activity, but some were overdue for review.
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.

• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and that there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.

The areas where the provider must make improvements are:

• Incident reporting must be implemented and incidents formally documented with learning recorded with clear action dates, including a system for analysing and monitoring trends.

• Clinical audits completed must include a full cycle of events to ensure patient outcomes are improved and reflection and learning is recorded with action points identified.

• Ensure recruitment arrangements include all necessary employment checks for all staff.

• Infection control and hand washing audits should be completed and up to date.

In addition the provider should:

• Have systems in place for identifying and monitoring the completion of training and appraisals for all staff in order for them to carry out their duties effectively and safely.

• Have an Induction programme that is clear and follows specific guidelines for all new starters and locum GPs joining the practice.

We saw one area of outstanding practice;

• The practice contracted a dedicated recovery case manager to review specific substance and alcohol misuse cases with patients. This was well managed and communication with the practice and patient records were excellent. Clear tasks and record management were completed in a timely and precise way and this was supported by good team working.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice