8 December 2014
During a routine inspection
Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice
We carried out a planned comprehensive inspection of Duddon Valley Medical Practice on 25 November 2014.
Overall, we rated the practice as good. Our key findings were as follows:
- The practice covered a large geographical and rural area; services had been designed to meet the needs of the local population.
- We saw that the practice had made improvements which addressed the concerns we raised, at our inspection in May 2014, about supporting staff.
- Feedback from patients was positive; they told us staff treated them with respect and kindness.
- Staff reported feeling supported and able to voice any concerns or make suggestions for improvement.
- The practice was visibly clean and tidy.
- The practice learned from incidents and took action to prevent any recurrence.
We saw the following areas of outstanding practice:
The practice demonstrated effective leadership, outstanding teamwork and organisational resilience, for example the practice had improved itself despite going through a period of turbulence.
We saw that there was a high level of commitment to the practice by all the staff working there to care for their patients and each other. For example the practice was undergoing a full review of their policies and procedures. All staff were involved with this process, for instance, clinical staff had been asked to review their job descriptions to ensure they reflect the skills required to deliver the services provided from this small rural practice.
Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)
Chief Inspector of General Practice