Northamptonshire GP surgery is rated as Outstanding by the Care Quality Commission

The Care Quality Commission has found the quality of care provided by Abbey House Medical Practice in Daventry, Northamptonshire, to be Outstanding following an inspection in December.

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

A full report of the inspection has now been published and is available on this website.

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 Abbey House Medical Practice highlights a number of areas of outstanding practice, including:

• The provision of a young person’s drop in clinic where they could consult with a GP, who had a special interest in young person’s health, to discuss issues such as sexual health, bullying and self-harm.
• The practice had a personalised care system where each GP carried out twice yearly care home reviews, involving the pharmacist and care home staff, to include medication review as well as clinical assessment and dementia reviews. Each GP also had an allocated personal assistant (PA) who worked specifically for them and dealt with queries from their patients and their allocated care homes.
• The practice had introduced a patient services assistant who was the carers lead, based in a specific room accessible to patients, whose role it was to help patients in distress or needing to speak to a member of staff privately.

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

“It is clear Abbey House Medical Practice is providing an effective, responsive and well led service which is a real asset to the people living in this part of Northamptonshire.

“Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.

“There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.

“Staff also understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses. Information about safety was recorded, monitored, appropriately reviewed and addressed.

“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 Louise Grifferty, Regional Engagement Manager on 07717 422917.

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