England’s Chief Inspector of General Practice has taken a south east London GP surgery out of special measures following improvements in the quality of its services.
Eleven months ago, Westwood Surgery in Welling had been rated Inadequate overall by the Care Quality Commission and was placed into special measures. During the latest follow-up inspection in May 2016, a specialist team of inspectors visited the practice again to check on progress. It is now rated Good overall.
Inspectors said the practice was rated Good for being Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led. Key findings were that there was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for the reporting and recording of significant events.
Risks to patients were assessed and well managed. Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
Feedback from patients about their care was consistently positive. Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
Information about services and how to complain was readily available and easy to understand and improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns.
Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs. It had a clear vision and leadership structure which had quality and safety as its top priority. The strategy to deliver this vision had been produced and discussed with staff and other stakeholders and was monitored and reviewed.
The practice implemented suggestions for improvements and made changes to the way it delivered services as a consequence of feedback from staff, patients and the patient participation group.
Ursula Gallagher, Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice in CQC’s London region said: “It is clear that Westwood Surgery has made significant improvements since our original inspection when we had serious concerns relating to poor systems and processes when more than 1,200 documents consisting of patient related letters from hospitals and other third parties had not been actioned since October 2014 and the practice had failed to identify this as a risk.
“In contrast we have now found risks to patients are assessed and well managed, feedback from patients about care was positive and patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect. The practice is providing better quality care for its patients.
“In the circumstances I am pleased to see that Westwood Surgery will come out of special measures and I congratulate staff on the progress that they have made so far. I acknowledge all the hard work at the surgery, congratulate Westwood on the progress made and express confidence that it will continue to improve."
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