Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice
The last inspection of this practice took place in December 2016. The overall rating for the practice at that time was good, with the exception of key question responsive which was rated as requires improvement. Our concerns at this time related to the insufficient numbers of suitably qualified, competent, skilled and experienced persons to meet patient demand as evidenced by the low patient satisfaction scores in the national GP patient survey. Following the December 2016 inspection, we issued the practice a regulation notice in respect of Regulation 18 of the Health and Social care Act (RA) Regulations 2014.
At this inspection we focused on the following key question which has been rated as:
Are services responsive? – Requires Improvement
As part of our inspection process, we also look at the quality of care for specific population groups. The population groups are rated as:
Older People – Good
People with long-term conditions – Good
Families, children and young people – Good
Working age people (including those recently retired and students – Good
People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable – Good
People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia) - Good
We carried out an announced focused inspection at Ilford Lane Surgery on 11 December 2017 to confirm that the practice had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breaches in regulations that we identified in our previous inspection on 21 December 2016. This report covers our findings in relation to those requirements and also any additional improvements made since our last inspection.
At this inspection we found:
- Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
- The practice had recruited additional clinical staff to address patient demand for services provided at the practice.
- There was a focus on continuous improvement at all levels of the organisation in order to provide quality services for patients.
The areas where the provider should make improvements are:
- Consider the introduction of written care plans for patients diagnosed with Asthma. In addition, the obesity register should be kept relevant.
- Continue to monitor and address concerns highlighted by patients in the National GP Patient survey, with particular attention to scores relating to patient access to the practice.
Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)
Chief Inspector of General Practice