13 January 2016
During a routine inspection
Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Park Lane Practice on 13 January 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.
Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:
- Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses.
- Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
- The practice carried out clinical audit activity and were able to demonstrate improvements to patient care as a result of this. However, there did not appear to be a robust system in place to select topics for clinical audit based on the particular needs of their patient population.
- The majority of patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect.
- Urgent appointments were usually available on the day they were requested.
- The practice had a number of policies and procedures to govern activity, but some were overdue a review.
- The practice had proactively sought feedback from patients and had an active patient participation group.
- Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
- The practice had recently reviewed and changed their appointment system and was monitoring its effectiveness.
The areas where the provider should make improvements are:
- Implement a regular schedule of clinical meetings
- Follow the practice recruitment policy so that all necessary employment checks for staff are completed before commencement of employment
- Make arrangements for staff to receive the appropriate immunisations relevant to the roles they undertake.
- Review and update procedures and guidance
- Review their high Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) exception reporting rates in order to understand the reasons behind this and to be able to demonstrate they are providing patients with the care and treatment they require.
Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)
Chief Inspector of General Practice