Care Quality Commission rates Balmoral Surgery as Outstanding

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has found the quality of care provided by Balmoral Surgery, Deal, Kent to be Outstanding following an inspection in December 2015.

Under CQC’s programme of inspections, all of England’s GP practices are being given a rating according to whether they are effective, caring, responsive and well led and rated good for safety. Balmoral surgery has been rated ‘Outstanding’ for being responsive to people’s needs and a well-led service and ‘Good’ for being safe, caring and effective.

A full report of the inspection, which details inspectors’ findings and highlights the areas where improvements must be made, has been published.

The surgery located at Canada Road, Deal in Kent, serves in the region of 12,600 patients.

Professor Steve Field, Chief Inspector of General Practice said:

“I am delighted to highlight the exceptional service at Balmoral Surgery, people are entitled to services which provide safe, effective, compassionate and high quality care. The GPs and staff at Balmoral Surgery have demonstrated a real commitment to their patients. All of this hard work and dedication pays off in making a real difference for their patients – which is why we have found this practice to be Outstanding. I hope other practices will see this as a model for excellent care.”

Ruth Rankine, Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice in the South, said:

“It is clear Balmoral Surgery is providing an excellent service and a real asset to the people living in this part of Kent

“Feedback from patients was excellent and staff made every effort to fully involve people in decisions about their care and treatment.

“There was a strong desire to learn at the practice, staff were highly skilled, engaged and committed to improving quality of care by learning from every opportunity and this was underpinned by their clear vision and strategy for the practice.

The report highlights a number of areas of outstanding practice, including:

• Patient feedback about the care received was consistently positive. The practice listened to the active patient participation group and implemented changes on the way it delivered services based on this feedback and suggestions. An Innovative and integrated person centred approach ensured that patients’ individual needs and preferences were central to the planning and delivery of tailored services.
• Outstanding practice has also been demonstrated through lead staff roles which improved patient’s access to services.
• The practice supported its younger population with open access to daily drop in sexual health clinics for both patients and non-patients. The practice also supported an active patient participation group (PPG). There was a member of the PPG in the practice waiting room on most days to assist patients, particularly the elderly or vulnerable, with access to services.
• The practice’s clear vision has quality and safety as its top priority which is demonstrated throughout the service and evident in the patient’s positive feedback.

Ends

For further information please contact CQC Regional Engagement Officer Farrah Chandra on 07917 594 574 or, for media enquiries, call the press office on 020 7448 9401 during office hours. Journalists wishing to speak to the press office outside of office hours can find out how to contact the team here. (Please note: the duty press officer is unable to advise members of the public on health or social care matters). For general enquiries, please call 03000 61 61 61.