Archived: Dr MME Fahmy & Dr SS Patel's Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr MME Fahmy & Dr SS Patel's Practice on the 5 May 2015. During the inspection we gathered information from a variety of sources. For example, we spoke with patients, interviewed staff of all levels and checked that the right systems and processes were in place.

Overall the practice is rated as good. Specifically, we found the practice to require improvement for providing safe services. It was also good for providing services for the population groups older people, people with long-term conditions, families, children and young people, working age people (including those recently retired and students), people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable and people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia). We found the practice to be good for providing well-led, effective, caring and responsive services.

Our key findings were as follows:

• Patients’ said they felt safely cared for and had no concerns about their care or treatment.
• Staff were helpful, caring and considerate to patients’ needs.
• Patients felt listened to and their opinions about care and treatment were acted upon.
• The environment was safe and clean.
• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns and report incidents and near misses. All opportunities for learning from internal and external incidents were maximised.
• The practice used proactive methods to improve patient outcomes, working with other local providers to share best practice.
• Patients said they were treated with dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment. Information was provided to help patients understand the care available to them.
• The practice implemented suggestions for improvements and made changes to the way it delivered services as a consequence of feedback from patients.
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• Information about how to complain was available and easy to understand.
• A business plan was in place, was monitored and regularly reviewed and discussed with all staff.

However, there were also areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.

Importantly, the provider must:

• Ensure that recruitment/employment checks are undertaken and recorded, including criminal record/DBS checks for those staff who undertake chaperone duties.

• Ensure there are effective arrangements for managing infection control, including a system for changing material curtains in consultation rooms in order to reduce the risk of infection.

In addition the provider should:

• Review the policies and procedures relating to significant event reporting.

• Review the process for the recording of accidents.

• Review the process for checking and recording emergency medicines.

• Review the arrangements for multi-disciplinary working and how this is recorded

• Review the complaints system in relation to the information provided when responding to complaints.

• Review how records are kept when meetings are held at the practice.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice