Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice
This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection December 2014 – Good)
The key questions are rated as:
Are services safe? – Good
Are services effective? – Good
Are services caring? – Good
Are services responsive? – Outstanding
Are services well-led? - Good
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 – Outstanding
People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia) - Good
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Denton Park Medical Group on 22 January 2018. This was as part of our ongoing inspection programme.
At this inspection we found:
- The practice had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes.
- The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
- Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
- Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
- The practice understood the needs of its population and tailored services in response to those needs. They had improved their approach to palliative care to ensure patients were supported in the way they preferred towards the end of their life. They had arranged influenza vaccination sessions during school holidays to make it easier for parents to attend with their children. Although the practice already had higher cervical screening rates than local and national averages, they had taken action to improve this further by promoting uptake on their website and highlighting reminder invites for patients on pink paper.
- There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.
We saw an area of outstanding practice:
- The practice had shown a sustained and continuous improvement in the support provided to patients reaching the end of their life. The practice had improved their identification of palliative care patients and was more inclusive in their approach. They had improved the approach to person-centred care planning and provision of accessible information for patients and their carers. They supported patients to die in their location of choice, wherever possible.
Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)
Chief Inspector of General Practice