1 December 2014
During a routine inspection
Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Sutton Bridge Medical Centre on 01 December 2014. Overall the practice is rated as good.
Specifically, we found the practice to be good for providing safe, well-led, effective, caring and responsive services. It was also good for providing services for 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.
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. Information about safety was recorded, monitored, appropriately reviewed and addressed.
- Risks to patients were assessed and well managed, with the exception of those relating to recruitment checks.
- Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance. Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and any further training needs had been identified and planned.
- 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.
- 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 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.
However there were areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.
In addition the provider should:
- Improve the arrangements for dispensing medicines. These include reviewing the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for medicines management and update these annually. Dispensing staff should also follow the clinical audit and incident reporting procedures; and make arrangements for dispensing assistants to receive regular knowledge and competency checks.
- Make arrangements for nurses to continue to access clinical supervision as already established by the practice.
- Arrange for policies and procedures to be regularly reviewed and updated including the whistleblowing policy, and child protection procedures.
Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)
Chief Inspector of General Practice