Yarm Medical Practice is rated as Outstanding by the Care Quality Commission

The Care Quality Commission has found the quality of care provided by the Yarm Medical Practice to be Outstanding following an inspection carried out in October 2015.

Inspectors rated the practice as Outstanding for effectiveness and well-led and Good for safety, caring and responsiveness. Overall, the practice was rated as outstanding.  A full report of the inspection has been published today.

Under CQC’s programme of inspections, all England’s GP practices are being given a rating according to whether they are safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led.

The report on the Yarm Medical Practice highlights a number of areas of outstanding practice including:

• The practice carried out Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) testing. The term IBD is a group of inflammatory conditions of the colon and small intestine. One of the GPs was the IBD Clinical Champion for the CCG area and involved with the Gastroenterology team at the local acute hospital, to assess the possibility of using near patient testing to assess for IBD in primary care. The practice was the only GP practice in the country to do this and if the research is fruitful, this model may be rolled out to primary care nationwide.
• The practice worked collaboratively with the lead GP from a neighbouring practice to develop best practice mental health care plans which were then used for the care of patients across both practices. These plans advised clinicians on what they should be monitoring, questions they should ask patients about their condition and when they should refer patients to a consultant or acute care. We saw data that indicated the number of patients accessing mental health out patient’s services had decreased since the care plan had been put in place.
• The practice, in collaboration with a neighbouring practice had developed Clinical Standards for the care delivered in the care homes they visited. The Standards set out what care the patient and staff in the homes should expect and how they would monitor their effectiveness.

Sue McMillan CQC’s Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice in the North says:

“This is an innovative, proactive and well organised practice that helps improve patient outcomes though working with other local providers. Staff actively engaged in activities to monitor and improve quality.

“The way in which the practice collaborates with other local practices is to be applauded. Developing mental health care plans and Care Standards for people in local care homes were ensuring that patient’s needs were being met. In addition, the best practice adopted in respect of IBD and the close working relationship with the local acute hospital was clearing reaping rewards.

“The hard work and the innovative approach being used at the Yarm Medical Practice is clearly paying off which is why we have found this practice to be Outstanding.”

Ends

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