Archived: The Woottons Surgery

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We inspected The Woottons Surgery on 23 March 2015 as part of our comprehensive inspection programme. Overall the practice is rated as requires improvement. Specifically, we found the practice to require improvement for providing safe, effective and well led services. It was good for providing a caring and responsive service. Due to the improvement required under the aforementioned domains it results in the practice being rated as requires improvement for the care to older patients, patients with long term conditions, patients in vulnerable circumstances, families, children and young patients, working age patients and patients experiencing poor mental health. Our key findings were as follows:

• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed with the exception of those relating to recruitment checks.
• Data showed patient outcomes were average for the locality. Although some audits had been carried out, we saw no evidence that audits were driving improvements in performance or patient outcomes.
• 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.
• The practice had a number of policies and procedures to govern activity, but the practice did not hold regular governance meetings.

However there were areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements. Importantly the provider must:

• Carry out staff Disclosure and Barring Service checks for staff caring for patients.
• Improve and align staff records to include evidence of qualifications and training.

And the provider should:

• Take steps to improve the take up of annual health checks of people with a learning disability.
• Implement effective procedures to disseminate, and ascertain all relevant staff are familiar with, national patient safety alerts.
• Implement effective systems for all practice staff to record, review and learn from significant events.
• Carry out a risk assessment for the need to test for legionella.
• Ensure resuscitation training is up to date for all staff.
• Provide chaperone training for those staff that require this.
• Implement an effective clinical audit programme which demonstrates improved outcomes for patients.
• Improve performance reviews for staff and implement effective development plans for all staff.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice