Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Five Oaks Family Practice on 5 April 2016.
Overall the practice is rated as outstanding.
Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:
- The practice used innovative and proactive methods to improve patient outcomes, working with other local providers to share best practice. For example, initiating and leading the scheme which provides a seven day service in Manchester to patients.
- All staff fully understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns and report incidents and near misses. All opportunities for learning from internal and external incidents were maximised and transparent. With strong and visible clinical and managerial leadership and governance arrangements.
- The practice had a clear vision which had quality and safety as its top priority with good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs such as, ensuring the practice was meeting Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) standards.
- The practice engaged effectively with local community groups and charities to improve community services and patient access, working with local groups around long term conditions and community wider issues. Feedback from patients about their care was consistently positive with many examples of the practice’s caring nature.
We saw one of outstanding practice, showing innovation and leading on the new initiatives for the local community and patients:
- The practice had identified that a large number of their patients suffered with long term conditions. In view of this they formed a partnership with the Expert Patients Group based at Manchester University. The Expert Patients Programme supports people with long-term conditions to regain as much control over their physical and emotional well-being as possible. The Practice facilitated this programme to run on their premises for ease of access for their patients. An example of the success of this programme was that the practice identified a cost saving in just one patient between 2012-2015 of £850,000 whilst reducing the attendance to the Accident and Emergency department and GP emergency appointments from 27 down to five (over 14 weeks).
Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)
Chief Inspector of General Practice