23 June 2016
During a routine inspection
Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Grainger Medical Group on 23 June 2016.
We previously carried out an announced inspection of the practice on 15 October 2015. Breaches of legal requirements were found. Overall, we rated the practice as requires improvement. After the comprehensive inspection the practice wrote to us to say what they would do to address the identified breaches.
We undertook this comprehensive inspection to check that the practice had followed their plan and to confirm that they now met legal requirements. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Grainger Medical Group on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Overall the practice is rated as good.
Our key findings were as follows:
- Since the last inspection the practice had made a number of improvements; including updating the telephone system and recruiting further clinical staff.
- Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance.
- Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses.
- The majority of 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.
- Most patients said they were able to get an appointment with a GP when they needed one, 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 leadership structure in place. Most staff felt supported by management. However, some staff felt they were unable to raise concerns and that communication between managers and staff could be improved.
- A patient participation group (PPG) had been established to give patients the opportunity to provide feedback to the practice.
The areas where the provider must make improvements are:
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Ensure accurate and complete records are maintained for each patient;the arrangements for reviewing and acting on information about patients within hospital discharge letters were not satisfactory.
In addition, the provider should:
- Take steps to ensure staff complete all training appropriate to their roles.
- Check and document staff’s immunisation against infectious diseases.
- Review arrangements for GPs carrying emergency medicines when carrying out home visits to ensure they are in line with the practice’s policy.
Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice