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