Cambridgeshire GP surgery is rated as Outstanding by the Care Quality Commission.

The Care Quality Commission has found the quality of care provided by Thistlemoor Road Surgery in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire to be Outstanding following an inspection carried out in September.

Inspectors found that the practice was providing an innovative, caring, effective, responsive and well-led service that meets the needs of the population it serves.

A full report of the inspection has now been published.

Under CQC’s new 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 Thistlemoor Road Surgery highlights a number of areas of outstanding practice, including:

• The practice offered a wide range of extended hour opening times, both early in the morning, the early evening and on Saturday mornings. The practice operated a walk in surgery each morning which meant that patients who attended between 8.30am and 10.30am were seen. Patients we spoke with particularly valued this walk-in service.
• Health care assistants were key members of the practice team and most spoke a range of languages, including those spoken by many of the practice’s population group. This supported good communication and patients’ involvement in understanding and managing their care.
• The practice offered health checks for 40-75 year olds. Despite already meeting its target to complete 300 of these for the year 2015-2016, it had decided to continue with these checks so that patients’ health and well-being could be monitored.
• The practice offered smoking cessation clinics in different languages to meet the needs of its patients, many of whom did not have English as their first language. These clinics had been successful in helping 70% of those who had attended to give up smoking (56 patients in total).
• The practice’s premises provided excellent facilities for patients. There was a resource room containing a range of health information for patients; a prayer room for use by both staff and patients; a room for mothers to breastfeed their babies in private and two sound proof rooms where staff could telephone patients confidentially and without distraction.
• A local councillor told us that the practice was very engaged with local schools, inviting school parties to visit and talking to children about the work of doctors and nurses.

Dr Neil Modha one of the GP's in the practice and the registered manager said:

"We are delighted with the outstanding rating, and would like to thank our staff and our patients who have helped us achieve this rating. This rating could only be achieved through teamwork. Healthcare is complex and we do not imagine that this rating means that everything we do is perfect but hope it reflects our systems, processes and desire to provide patient focused care."

Janet Williamson, Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice and Dentistry in CQC’s Central region said:

“The practice vision and values included having an open culture and offering a friendly, caring good quality service that was accessible to all patients and met their healthcare needs”.

“Feedback from patients and clinical teams was excellent and staff went above and beyond their level of duty to care for patients. The practice also had a positive working atmosphere and was committed to continuing to improve services for its patients”.

“From our interviews with staff at all levels during our inspection, we found that the practice vision and aims formed the basis of their day to day work, and the practice was run by a patient centred team, who were committed and proud of the work they did”.

“All of this hard work pays off in making a real difference to patients – which is why we have found this practice to be Outstanding.”

Ends

For further information, please contact Jade Quittenton, Regional Engagement Officer on 0191 2333649

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