CQC publishes new web tools for GP practices
Introduction to essential and recommended reading for GP practices
CQC has published a new web-page on their website to help GP practices prepare for inspection. The web-page www.cqc.org.uk/gpintroguide gives a brief overview of the inspection process, and sign-posts to essential and recommended reading for all GP providers.
The web-page sign-posts to:
- the handbook for GP providers
- the key lines of enquiry used on inspection
- guidance to meeting the regulations
- what to expect from an inspection 2-page flyer
- examples of outstanding and inadequate practice from our GP practice inspections
- help with your presentation (at the beginning of the inspection)
- how overall ratings for practices are calculated
- how to complain about your report/rating
- further information on special measures, and the support available
- Nigel’s surgery: Tips and mythbusters for GP practices
This resource has been put together following feedback from professionals around the clarity and accessibility of our guidance to providers. We hope that this new resource will make CQC guidance resources for GP professionals easier to find and use.
Examples of inadequate care from our inspections of general practice
Today we have also published Examples of inadequate care in our inspections of general practice, a new web-tool containing a series of examples of inadequate care that we have found in our inspections of GP practices.
The web-tool supports the examples of outstanding practice web-tool that we published in July (the feedback we received told us that professionals working in general practice found this tool useful).
The tool builds on the key findings in inadequate care included in the primary medical services chapter of the 2014/15 State of Care report that we published in October, and supplements these findings with real-life examples that highlight the impact of poor practice on patients. For the purposes of this tool, the examples have been anonymised.
The examples correspond to the five key questions that we ask about all services when we inspect (are services safe, effective, caring, responsive to patient need, and well-led?).
Updated guidance for registering GP federations
We are now increasingly seeing groups of primary care teams who are collaborating to provide services. In May we published guidance to registered providers who wish to form a federation to understand their responsibilities around CQC registration. We have recently updated this guidance, which you can find on our website.
The guidance summarises the issues that federations should consider and provides case studies to illustrate different registration scenarios. Nigel Sparrow, National GP Advisor, has published a new mythbuster on what the guidance means for federations who are unsure about whether they need to change their registration.
Interactive map of GP practice ratings in England
You may have also seen that we have recently published an interactive map of GP practice ratings in England. We hope this tool will make it easier for the public and providers to search for practices by geographic location or post-code, compare ratings and read inspection reports. The icons on the map enable you to click-through to a practice’s profile page on the CQC website, and read the most recent inspection report.
Nigel’s surgery: Tips and mythbusters for GP practices
National GP advisor Nigel Sparrow’s mythbusters for GP practices has recently had a rebrand. Visit Nigel’s Surgery: Tips and mythbusters for GP practices to find all of his latest mythbusters conveniently categorised by the 5 key questions.
If you have any questions about the resources for GP providers we have published on our website, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can also send us your feedback on the web-tool by emailing gpproviderengagement@cqc.org.uk.
