Westcourt Medical Centre Also known as Dr D G Williams and Partners

Updated 16 October 2018

Westcourt Medical Centre is situated in the town of Rustington. It serves approximately 12,550 patients. It had taken on an additional 700 patients since 2016 as a result of the closure of a neighbouring practice.

There are six GP partners and three salaried GPs. Three of the GPs are male and six are female. There are five practice nurses, one treatment room nurse, two health care assistants and one phlebotomist. There is one paramedic practitioner. There is a practice manager and a team of secretarial, administrative, accounts and reception staff. The practice is a training practice and provides placements for trainee GPs and doctors, as well as nurse, paramedic and community pharmacist students.

Data available to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) shows the practice serves a higher than average percentage population over the age of 65. There is a comparatively low level of deprivation amongst the practice population.

Information on appointments, opening times and services provided can be found at

The practice is registered to provide the following regulated activities, maternity and midwifery services, treatment of disease, disorder or injury, family planning, surgical procedures and diagnostic and screening procedures.

The practice provides services from the following location: -

12 The Street

Rustington

Littlehampton

West Sussex

BN16 3NX

Updated 16 October 2018

This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection April 2016 – Outstanding)

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? - Good

We carried out an announced inspection on 11 May 2018 as part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

• The practice had clear, embedded systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes. Relevant learning was routinely shared with external stakeholders.
• The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. There was a strong emphasis on making sure that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Patient satisfaction was consistently high.
• Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they could access care when they needed it.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

• The practice was pro-active in using a number of methods to seek patient feedback and engage with the public. This included the use of surveys tailored to seek feedback on specific areas of interest or concern. There was clear evidence that improvements were made to services as a result. For example, the practice undertook a survey to try and capture responses from existing patients and the 700 patients who had transferred to them from the recently closed neighbouring practice, plus new residents in the area from a new housing development. Improvements implemented included the promotion of the automated booking system, improving the efficiency of call handling and a review of the appointment system. It had also undertaken a survey to gauge awareness amongst patients of changes to the local health economy. The results helped facilitate joint working with other local practices on collective statements about the progress of any locality projects and ensuring waiting room screens and websites were updated as and when necessary. The practice optimised the functionality the friends and family test for use on smartphones and had increased response rates because of this. Improvements in response to feedback included an easier way to contact the receptionist when attending extended access appointments, with the fitting of a doorbell. The practice had also made use of the patients comment box and implemented several suggested improvements which included the ability to call for more reception staff at the front desk during busy periods.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 16 October 2018

Updated 16 October 2018

Updated 16 October 2018

Updated 16 October 2018

Updated 16 October 2018

Updated 16 October 2018