16 August 2017
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Gosford Green Surgery on 16 May 2017. As a result of our inspection the practice was rated as good overall but required improvement for providing safe services. The full comprehensive report on the May 2017 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Gosford Green Surgery on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
This inspection was a desk-based focused inspection carried out on 16 August 2017 to confirm that the practice had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breach in regulations that we identified in our previous inspection on 16 May 2017. This report covers our findings in relation to those requirements and also additional improvements made since our last inspection.
Overall the practice is rated as good.
Our key findings were as follows:
- The practice had introduced a pathway and written guidance to ensure that all staff were aware of the correct procedure to follow when reviewing letters from the hospital that indicated changes in medicines. They had also carried out an audit to evidence that all staff had correctly adhered to the process since its implementation.
- The practice had a system and policy for reporting significant events but had reviewed and enhanced this to encourage staff to consider more topics for significant event reporting.
- The practice had replaced missing items and ensured that emergency medicines and equipment included all necessary items recommended for use in an emergency.
- The National Patient Survey results published in July 2017 showed that the patient satisfaction was higher in most areas than the previous survey had reported and indicated improvement had been made. Generally the practice results were now comparable to the Clinical Commsioning Group (CCG) and national averages.
- The practice had obtained posters advertising national screening and had placed these in the waiting area to encourage patient uptake. Bowel screening was also promoted on the practice health promotion television screen in the waiting area. The practice told us that clinical staff were also reminding eligible patients opportunistically during consultations of the importance of screening.
Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice