Whipton Surgery

Updated 16 November 2022

Whipton Surgery is located in the city of Exeter, Devon. Whipton Surgery merged with another local practice, The Foxhayes Practice in July 2021. However, the two practices hold separate patient lists and separate contracts with the Integrated Care Board (ICB) which was previously known as the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). We did not inspect “The Foxhayes Practice”.

Whipton Surgery is located at:

378 Pinhoe Road

Exeter

Devon

EX4 8EG

The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the Regulated Activities; diagnostic and screening procedures, maternity and midwifery services and treatment of disease, disorder or injury and surgical procedures.

The practice is situated within the Devon Integrated Care Board (ICB) and delivers Personal Medical Services (PMS) to a patient population of about 4,570. This is part of a contract held with NHS England.

The practice is part of the Central Primary Care Network which includes five other practices within Exeter.

Information published by Public Health England shows that deprivation within the practice population group is on the fifth decile (5 of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice population is relative to others.

There is a team of four GPs at Whipton Surgery. The practice has a team of three nurses who provide nurse led clinics for long-term condition and is supported by a healthcare assistant. The GPs are supported at the practice by a team of reception and administration staff. The practice manager is based at Whipton Surgery and provides managerial oversight.

The practice is open between 8.30am to 6pm on Mondays and Fridays, 7.30am to 6pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8.30 to 5.30 on a Wednesday and 9am- 5pm every other Saturday. The practice offers a range of appointment types including book on the day, telephone consultations and advance appointments.

Extended access is provided locally by both Whipton Surgery and Foxhayes Surgery where late evening and weekend appointments are available. Out of hours services are provided by Devon Doctors.

Updated 16 November 2022

We carried out an announced focused inspection at Whipton Surgery on 13 September 2022.

Overall, the practice is rated as Good.

Safe - Good

Effective - Good

Caring - Not inspected, rating of Good carried forward from a previous inspection (2018)

Responsive - Not inspected, rating of Outstanding carried forward from a previous inspection (2018)

Well-led - Good

Following our previous inspection on 31July 2018 the practice was rated Good overall.

The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Whipton Surgery on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we carried out this inspection

We undertook this inspection as part of a random selection of services rated Good and Outstanding to test the reliability of our new monitoring approach.

How we carried out the inspection

This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site.

This included:

• Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing.
• Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system (this was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements).
• Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider.
• Requesting evidence from the provider.
• A short site visit.
• Staff questionnaires

Our findings

We based our judgement of the quality of care at this service on a combination of:

• what we found when we inspected
• information from our ongoing monitoring of data about services and
• information from the provider, patients, the public and other organisations.

We found that:

• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and effective system for reporting and recording significant events.
• The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
• Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
• Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
• Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
• The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.
• 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.
• However, not all safety alerts issued by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) had been acted on by the service. We found there were low uptake rates (72.1%) for cervical screening which fell below the England average of 80%.

Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:

• Ensure that there is a robust system in place to review and act on MHRA alerts .

Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

Chief Inspector of Hospitals and Interim Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services