CQC rates Dr GAM Burnett and Partners at Sonning Common as Outstanding

The Care Quality Commission has found the quality of care provided by Dr GAM Burnett and Partners at Sonning Common Health Centre to be Outstanding following an inspection carried out in January.

Under CQC’s new programme of inspections, all of England’s GP practices are being given a rating according to whether they are safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led.

Inspectors rated the practice at Sonning Common, near Reading, Outstanding for being effective, responsive and well led. A full report of the inspection has been published today.

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

• The health promotion initiatives to encourage patients to adopt healthy lifestyles, including health walks, the green gym gardening and conservation project, and cycling club.
• The strong focus on creating a culture of education and learning was demonstrated through the four GP trainees in post, one trainee practice nurse and mentor scheme for salaried GPs.
• A nurse practitioner with advanced skills in administering joint injections provided this service to patients.
• A weekly transport service is funded by the practice, via a local voluntary group, for patients without their own transport living in a nearby village.

Ruth Rankine, Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice, said:

"We found that Sonning Common Health Centre is providing an outstanding service, particularly for older patients, people with longer term conditions and people of working age.

"The majority of patients with known conditions had received annual reviews. The practice provides a flexible appointment system which involves a duty GP to ensure all who need to be seen the same day are accommodated. Patients told us they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and that there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available.

"The practice has been using innovative and proactive methods to improve patient outcomes, for example by making health promotion a priority, with a number of exercise initiatives on offer to people. All the data suggests that this practice is performing highly - and you can see why."

Professor Steve Field, Chief Inspector of General Practice, said:

“I am delighted to highlight the exceptional standard of care which is being provided by Dr GAM Burnett and Partners at Sonning Common Health Centre.

“All the staff told us they aimed to provide high quality care and promote good outcomes for patients. I have no doubt that they deserve to share the credit for this Outstanding service.”

Dr Geoff Payne, Medical Director, NHS England, said:

“We’re pleased to see an outstanding rating for well-led, effective, responsive GP services. High quality leadership, the right culture of learning and specific services such as health promotion and transport provision make a significant difference to the patient’s experience and the quality of care that they receive. We commend the staff at Dr GAM Burnett and Partners for their great work, care and attention. We hope more GP practices will be recognised for their outstanding work in the future.”

Ends

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