We carried out a review of the data available to us about Watton Medical Practice on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Watton Medical Practice, you can give feedback on this service.
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Watton Medical Practice on 20 March 2018. The surgery was inspected on 15 August 2017 and rated as requires improvement overall; with a rating of requires improvement for all domains and population groups. The practice was given requirement notices for regulation 12 (safe care and treatment) and regulation 17 (good governance). This inspection was to inspect whether sufficient changes had been made in response to those requirement notices.
The key questions are rated as:
Are services safe? – Good
Are services effective? – Good
Are services caring? – Good
Are services responsive? – Good
Are services well-led? – Good
As part of our inspection process, we also look at the quality of care for specific population groups. The population groups are rated as:
Older People – Good
People with long-term conditions – Good
Families, children and young people – Good
Working age people (including those recently retired and students – Good
People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable – Good
People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia) - Good
At this inspection we found:
The practice had systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes.
Arrangements were in place to support safe prescribing and the prescribing policy had been updated.
Infection prevention and control was well monitored in the practice. During this inspection there were no out of date items found in clinical rooms.
The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence-based guidelines.
We found some exception reporting was above local and national averages, however there was evidence that this had improved since the last inspection.
Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
The practice was aware of the low results for the GP Patient Survey and they had already changed the appointments system to improve access. The practice had also completed their own survey which showed marked improvements in patient satisfaction.
Staff reported that they felt confident about the changes made and were positive about the future of the practice.
There were infrequent administration and reception meetings to share learning. However, there were systems within the practice to keep staff up to date with information.
There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.
The areas where the provider should make improvements are:
Continue to review and improve exception reporting, specifically that relating to mental health.
Continue to review and improve patient satisfaction relating to access, specifically for outcomes relating to access via the telephone.
Continue to review and improve patient satisfaction relating to caring outcomes.
Improve the frequency of administration and reception staff meetings to ensure appropriate information is discussed.
Chief Inspector of General Practice
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Watton Medical Practice on 15 August 2017. Overall the practice is rated as requires improvement.
Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:
The areas where the provider must make improvements are:
Ensure care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients.
Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care.
The areas where the provider should make improvement are:
Continue to identify carers and consider the need for health checks for this patient group.
Continue to assess and ensure improvement to national GP patient survey results relating to patient satisfaction.
Implement the plan to drive improvement through clinical audit.
Review and analyse trends in complaints.
Continue to ensure effective communication and engagement with patients.
Chief Inspector of General Practice
We conducted a comprehensive inspection on 25 November 2014 under the new approach.
Our key findings were as follows:
The practice was safe, effective caring and responsive and well led. The practice has a clear vision and set of values which are understood by staff and made known to patients. There is a clear leadership structure in place, quality and performance are monitored and risks are identified and managed.
Staff recognised and understood the needs of patients and tailored access to care and treatments to meet these needs. The practice was working in partnership with other health and social care services to deliver individualised care.
The practice provided a safe service in an environment which was well managed and risks to staff and patients were identified and minimised.
Staff were trained and supported to deliver high quality patient care and treatment and to improve outcomes and experiences for patients.
We saw several areas of outstanding practice including:
However, there were also areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.
Importantly the provider should: