Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Mayfield Medical Centre on 30 June 2015. The practice was rated as good for all domains with the exception of effective services which was rated as requires improvement. All population groups were rated as good.
Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:
- The practice had a strong system in place to capture, investigate and learn from significant events. The lead GP oversaw this process and meetings were held monthly to discuss each event and learning taken from the outcome. Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns and report incidents and near misses.
- Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance.
- The practice did not have an effective system to record staff training and some basic training had not been completed. However, staff had regular appraisals and personal development plans.
- The practice had achieved a score of 98.5% of the percentage points available to them for Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) results for the practice for the year 2013 / 2014. QOF is a voluntary incentive scheme for GP practices in the UK for providing recommended treatments for the most commonly found clinical conditions.
- Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in decisions about their care and treatment. Data showed that patients rated the practice higher than others for several aspects of care. We saw that staff were considerate with patients, treated them with understanding and maintained confidentiality.
- Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
- The practice had recognised they needed to improve the way patients made appointments and had recently changed the appointment system which was a clinician led triage system. This was to be reviewed six months after implementation.
- The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
- There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which they acted on.
However, there was an area of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.
Importantly, the provider must:
- Ensure staff receive appropriate training in order to carry out the duties they perform and maintain accurate records of this.
The provider should:
- Introduce an infection control audit.
- Carry out a health and safety risk assessment and regular fire drills.
- Carry out a risk assessment as to why some non-clinical staff had not received a disclosure and barring check (DBS).
Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)
Chief Inspector of General Practice