Archived: Arthington Medical Centre

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Arthington Medical Centre on 15 October 2015. 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 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.
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment. Urgent appointments were available for the same day as requested, although not necessarily with a GP of their choice.
• The practice sought patient views how improvements could be made to the service, through the use of surveys, the NHS Friends and Family Test and the patient reference group.
• The practice worked closely with other organisations, such as Leeds South and East Clinical Commissioning Group, the Yorkshire Ambulance Service and the local neighbourhood teams, in planning how services were provided to ensure that they met people’s needs.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour.

We saw several areas of outstanding practice:

• The practice liaised with the Yorkshire Ambulance Service on a monthly basis regarding their registered patients who regularly called the ambulance service and attended the accident and emergency department. By having regular multidisciplinary meetings to discuss these patients, additional personalised support was provided. This had resulted in a significant reduction in the number of avoidable telephone calls made by the practice’s patients to the ambulance service and unplanned admissions, which had arisen from those calls.

• The lead GP undertook a weekly ward round at local care homes where they had a number of registered patients. Patients, carers and staff could raise any concerns. Care and support were implemented in a timely manner to avoid any unnecessary hospital admissions.

• The practice sent out a mother and baby pack to all new mums. This pack contained information on childhood immunisation schedules, contact details of the health visitors, details of available services, clinics and groups in the local area. For example, breastfeeding and baby and toddlers’ groups.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice