A south-east London practice has been rated Good overall by the Care Quality Commission. Previously it had been rated Inadequate and was placed in special measures.
After an inspection in May 2018 Bexley Group Practice in Welling was rated Good for being safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.
Inspectors found that the practice had addressed all the issues that led to breaches of regulations at their last inspection.
The practice had moved its main practice location, and closed two of its three branch locations. It had also ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence based guidelines.
Staff involved patients in their treatment and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect. Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that there had been improvements in them being able to access care when they needed it. However, some patients still felt there were further improvements needed in accessing appointments and waiting for appointments.
There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation. The practice had greatly improved its identification and offer of support to people with caring responsibilities.
The practice provided regular health promotion poster campaigns and talks to people in the local community, which has raised awareness and increased diagnosis of the diseases focused on during their campaigns.
Areas where the practice should make improvements include:
- continue to consider ways to improve patient satisfaction with the areas of nurse consultations where it scored poorly in the most recent GP patient survey
- considering ways to maintain improvements in the uptake of childhood vaccinations
- considering ways to improve the uptake of cervical screening
Professor Ursula Gallagher, Deputy Chief Inspector, Primary Medical Services, said: “We found significant improvements had been made at Bexley Group Practice. Overall the practice is now rated as Good and we are taking it out of special measures.
“I would like to congratulate all at the practice that have worked hard to improve the quality of care provided to its patients.”
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Overall the practice is now rated as Good and we are taking it out of special measures.
Professor Ursula Gallagher, Deputy Chief Inspector, Primary Medical Services