• Doctor
  • GP practice

Wadebridge and Camel Estuary Practice

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Brooklyn, Wadebridge, Cornwall, PL27 7BS (01208) 812222

Provided and run by:
Wadebridge and Camel Estuary Practice

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

Wadebridge and Camel Estuary Practice is a NHS GP practice which provides primary care services from one location and a branch surgery in Rock. We carried out an announced inspection on the 01 May 2024. The practice had a positive learning culture and responded to patient and staff feedback. Medicines were managed safely. However, the remote searches carried out of patient’s clinical records evidenced not all patients had been monitored in line with national guidelines. The practice addressed this immediately and developed their systems and processes to ensure monitoring was carried out as required. Patients’ needs were assessed, and care and treatment provided accordingly in line with current legislation and standards. The practice had organised services and introduced systems and processes to enable patients to access services when they needed to. There were clear responsibilities, roles, and systems of accountability to support good governance and management. This included emergency preparedness and work force planning with a programme of recruitment ongoing to meet demands for the service. The 2023 National GP Patient Survey demonstrated that satisfaction was slightly below the national average in some areas. The practice reviewed and responded to feedback and continues to improve their systems and processes. For example, the introduction of a new electronic appointment booking system which allows the duty GP to triage patients with same day appointments being made available for more urgent clinically assessed needs.

13 July 2017

During an inspection looking at part of the service

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

This announced focused inspection was carried out on 13 July 2017 to confirm that the practice had made improvements to meet the actions falling below a regulatory breach in our previous comprehensive inspection on 25 March 2015. In March 2015 the overall rating for the practice was Good. The full comprehensive report for the March 2015 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Wadebridge and Camel Estuary Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Overall the practice is  rated as Good

Our key findings were as follows:

  • There was an open and transparent approach to safety and a system in place for reporting and recording significant events. The practice had introduced new systems and processes to ensure that lessons were shared and action was taken to improve safety in the practice.

  • The practice had clearly defined and embedded systems to minimise risks to patient safety.

  • The practice had an induction programme for all newly appointed staff and locum staff. This covered such topics as safeguarding, infection prevention and control, fire safety, health and safety and confidentiality.

  • The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs. The practice was clean, tidy and hygienic. We found suitable arrangements were in place which ensured the cleanliness of the practice was maintained to a high standard.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

25 March 2015

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Wadebridge and Camel Estuary Practice on Wednesday 25 March 2015.

Overall the practice is rated as good.

We found the practice to be good for providing safe, well led, effective, caring and responsive services. It was also rated good for providing services for the six population groups of older people, people with long-term conditions; mothers, babies, children and young people; the working-age population and those recently retired; people in vulnerable circumstances who may have poor access to primary care

and people experiencing poor mental health

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

There was a track record and a culture of promptly responding to incidents, near misses and complaints and using these events to learn and change systems so that patient care could be improved.

Staff were aware of their responsibilities in regard to consent, safeguarding and the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA).

The practice was clean and tidy and there were infection control procedures in place.

Medicines were generally managed well within the dispensaries and at the practice and there were effective systems in place to deal with emergencies.

The GPs and other clinical staff were knowledgeable about how the decisions they made improved clinical outcomes for patients although patients care plans were not always kept under review.

Most data outcomes for patients were either equal to or above the average locally.

Patients were complimentary about the staff and how their medical conditions were managed.

Practice staff were professional and respectful when providing care and treatment.

The practice planned its services to meet the diversity of its patients. Adjustments were made to meet the needs of the patients and there was an effective appointment system in place which enabled a good access to the service.

There were clear recruitment processes in place. There were robust induction processes in place, although this was not always in place for all locum staff.

The practice had a vision, clear ethos and mission statement which were understood by staff. There was a leadership structure in place and staff felt supported.

However there were areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements

The Provider should:

  • Ensure all locums receive an induction to ensure they are familiar with emergency procedures and local guidelines.
  • Have systems in place to make sure personalised care plans are kept under review.
  • Consider sharing action and learning following a significant event or complaint with the whole team.
  • Ensure the infection control audit is able to identify latest good practice guidelines.
  • Adopt systems to ensure the safe storage of prescription stationary and GP’s bags when the GPs are not present in their room.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice