The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

The New Surgery

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

27 Stock Road, Billericay, Essex, CM12 0AH

Provided and run by:
The New Surgery

Important: This service was previously managed by a different provider - see old profile

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

We carried out an announced assessment of one quality statement, Equity of Access, under the key question Responsive at The New Surgery on the 19 January 2024. Responsive assessments are remote focused reviews to help us understand what practices are doing to try to meet patient demand and the current experience of people who use these services and of providers. The responsive key question is still rated as good. The service remains rated as good overall. We recognise the great and often innovative work that GP practices have been engaged in to continue to provide safe, quality care to the people they serve. We know colleagues are doing this while demand for general practice remains exceptionally high, with more appointments being provided than ever. In this challenging context, access to general practice remains a concern for people. These assessments of the quality statement Equity in Access in the responsive key question includes looking at what practices are doing innovatively to improve patient access to primary care and sharing this information to drive improvement. People can access services when they need to, without physical or digital barriers, including out of normal hours and in an emergency. People are given support to overcome barriers to ensure equal access. The practice understood the challenges to patient access and responded to patient needs.

07 December 2022

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The New Surgery on 7 December 2022. Overall, the practice is rated as good. This is the practice’s first inspection since registering on 28 May 2021.

The ratings for each key question are;

Safe - Good

Effective – Good

Caring – Good

Responsive - Good

Well-led – Good

Why we carried out this inspection

This inspection focused on:

  • Safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led services

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 and discussing findings with the provider
  • Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider
  • Requesting evidence from the provider
  • A short site visit

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 have rated this practice as Good overall.

We found that:

  • We found the monitoring of medicines and safety alerts was carried out in line with national guidance.
  • The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
  • The practice had carried out a range of environmental risk assessments to ensure the safety of their staff and patients.
  • The practice had effective safeguarding systems in place.
  • Although the practice had cold chain procedures in place, we found documentation was inconsistent. Since the inspection, the practice has reviewed and implemented changes to their procedures to ensure checks are completed in line with national guidance.
  • Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
  • A range of emergency medicines were available at the practice however we found three of the recommended emergency medicines were not available. Since the inspection, the practice had reviewed and purchased the necessary medicines.
  • National GP patient survey data showed the practice were in line with national averages.
  • Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
  • The practice had faced challenges to establish a patient participation group.
  • The practice adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. 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.

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

  • Improve the system to monitor cold chain procedures in line with national guidance.
  • Continue to establish the patient participation group
  • Strengthen monitoring systems for emergency medicines stored at the practice.
  • Continue to improve the uptake of cervical screening.

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