West Road Medical Centre is rated as Outstanding by the Care Quality Commission

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has found the quality of care provided by the West Road Medical Centre in Newcastle to be Outstanding following an inspection carried out in December 2014.

Inspectors rated the practice as Outstanding for providing effective and responsive services, and Good for providing services that are safe, caring and well led.

A full report of the inspection has been published today.

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 West Road Medical Centre highlighted a number of areas of outstanding practice, including:

• One of the GPs worked with a local charity (HAREF, the Health and Race Equality Forum) and the Newcastle Diabetes Centre to ensure health promotion information was made available to patients within ethnic minority communities.
• Highly effective systems were in place to manage patients’ long term conditions. Nationally reported guidance showed the practice was performing well above local and national averages in relation to the management of long term conditions
• The practice had strong links with local communities and services had been designed to reflect the needs of the diverse population served by the practice.
• The practice worked with female patients within migrant communities to promote the cervical screening service. Staff told us there had been an increase in the uptake of screening tests following this intervention
• Patient feedback was very positive; results from the National Patient Survey showed the practice was performing very well. For example, 97% of patients were satisfied with opening hours (compared to 77% nationally).

Inspectors did note one area where the provider should make improvements – and have advised that clearer records on prescription stationery stock should be maintained in line with guidance from NHS Protect.

Sue McMillan, Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice in the North, said:

“It is clear the West Road Medical Centre is providing an effective and responsive service which is a real asset to the people living in this part of the North East.

“I was particularly impressed with practice’s proactive work with the local community. We found that staff demonstrated a sound understanding of the differing needs of their patients and acted on these needs in the planning and delivery of its services.

“The GPs and staff at West Road Medical Centre 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.”

Ends

For media enquiries, David Fryer 07901 514220 or call the CQC press office on 020 7448 9401 during office hours or out of hours on 07789 876508. For general enquiries, call 03000 61 61 61.