The Rycote Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Rycote Practice on 20 July 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• 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. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and there was continuity of care, 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 clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

• There were nine patients registered with the practice who were diagnosed with a learning disability. All these patients had an annual health check in 2014/15 but only three had the same check in 2015/16.

• Two vials of medicine held for emergency use were found to be past their expiry date. These medicines were removed and replaced during the inspection and the practice reinforced their checking procedure.

We saw areas of outstanding practice including:

• The practice had enlisted the support of patients with long term conditions to act as patient teachers for medical students and GPs in training. These patients related their experiences of living with long term conditions to the trainees and students to give them a better understanding of how to treat and care for patients with similar conditions. Other patients with these conditions were able to benefit from the knowledge gained by the students and trainees.

• The practice took a proactive approach to encouraging patients to attend for cancer screening. For example, 97% of eligible patients attended for cervical cytology screening compared to the national average of 82%.

• A visiting counsellor led regular sessions to support the senior leadership team work through the challenges of general practice.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Ensure patients with a learning disability are supported to access the practice or other services for health checks.

• Ensure reception staff are trained to operate the hearing loop to assist patients who wear a hearing aid.

• Ensure that the practice policy for checking emergency medicines is operated consistently to make sure checks of these medicines are carried out thoroughly

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice