Archived: Dr Shahid Amin Also known as St Luke's Surgery

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr Shahid Amin (St Luke’s Surgery) on 30 June 2016. The overall rating for this practice is good.

Our key findings were as follows:

• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events, and we saw evidence that learning was applied from events.

• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance.
• Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment. There was a robust staff appraisal system, and individuals were encouraged and supported to develop in their roles.
• Feedback from patients about their care, and their interactions with all of the practice staff, was positive. Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and most said that they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• We received some mixed views with regards the practice appointment system. However, most patients said they found it easy to book an appointment with a GP. We observed that the appointment system was flexible and responsive to patients’ needs. Urgent appointments were available the same day.
• Access to the practice nurse was limited to mornings and early afternoon. Appointments were therefore not available outside of school hours for children, and this potentially created some difficulties for working parents. There was no designated cover for the practice nurse during periods of leave.
• The practice used clinical audits to review patient care and we observed how outcomes had been used to enhance quality care and improve service provision.
• The practice worked effectively with the wider multi-disciplinary team to plan and deliver effective and responsive care to keep vulnerable patients safe.
• There was strong and visible clinical and managerial leadership, supported by clear governance arrangements within the practice. Staff told us that they felt well-supported by management and enjoyed their work.
• The practice had good facilities and was well-equipped to treat patients and meet their needs. The premises were clean, tidy and well-organised.
• Information about how to complain was available and easy to understand. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concern.
• The surgery had an active patient participation group (PPG) which influenced changes within the practice. For example, the practice had re-worded the letter sent to patients who did not attend for their allocated appointment, in order to make it read more sensitively.
• The practice proactively sought patient feedback and reviewed the way it delivered services as a consequence of this.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Implement an auditable procedure for the receipt, distribution and actioning of alerts received via the Medicines Health and Regulatory Authority (MHRA), and for the receipt and acknowledgement of new guidance.
• Continue to take steps to improve outcomes for patients where Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) achievement is lower.
• Ensure a procedure is in place to monitor and action any uncollected prescriptions, and a sign-out procedure is in place to monitor the collection of prescriptions for controlled medicines.
• Review the availability of practice nurse hours.
• Strengthen the infection control lead role by defining key responsibilities, and ensuring additional training is undertaken to support this role.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice