Guildhall Surgery in Folkestone has been rated as good overall following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in October. It was previously rated inadequate.
Inspectors found that a number of improvements had been made and embedded since their previous visit in February 2022.
The practice had previously been rated as inadequate overall and being safe and well-led. Requires improvement for being effective and good for being caring and responsive to people’s needs. As a result of this inspection the overall rating has been upgraded to good. It is also rated as good for whether its services are safe, effective, caring and responsive. Well-led is rated as requires improvement.
As the practice is now rated good CQC has also removed the service from special measures.
Neil Cox, CQC’s head of inspection, said:
“At this inspection of Guildhall Surgery, we found significant and sustainable improvements have been put in place and were being embedded.
“At the inspection we found the practice had worked hard to make the necessary improvements to ensure patients received safe and effective care. Inspectors received feedback that was positive about staff providing good, personalised care and also understood and respected the personal, cultural, social and religious needs of patients
“There is still some work to be done, but, the practice has worked hard to put the improvements needed in place and I want to congratulate of the staff and the leadership at Guildhall Surgery for their hard work and dedication during this time. We look forward to returning at a later date to see what further improvements have taken place.”
CQC found a number of examples of improvements during this inspection, including:
- he practice had improved their oversight of test results and these were now reviewed in a timely manner
- Safeguarding processes had been reviewed and updated to work more effectively and staff were trained to appropriate levels for their role
- The practice had improved the process for monitoring patients’ health in relation to the use of high-risk medicines
- There was a dedicated administrator who spent time each week identifying patients eligible for immunisation and was responsible for contacting the patients by telephone, text messaging and letters to encourage them to book an appointment
- The practice had reviewed the system to record, monitor and share learning from significant events
- The practice had improved their systems and processes to keep clinicians up to date with current evidence-based practice. This now ensured patients were receiving effective care and treatment which met their needs.