We carried out an announced inspection at Whyburn Medical practice on 07 April 2022 Overall, the practice is rated as Good.
Safe - Good
Effective - Good
Caring - Good
Responsive - Good
Well-led - Good
The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Whyburn Medical Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk
Why we carried out this inspection
This inspection was a comprehensive inspection as part of our inspection programme. The service formally registered as a new provider with the CQC on 15 September 2019.
How we carried out the inspection
Throughout the pandemic CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, taking into account the circumstances arising as a result of the pandemic, and in order to reduce risk, we have conducted our inspections differently.
This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site. This was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements.
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:
- The practice adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- 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.
- Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to carry out their roles.
- Patients taking regular medicines and those with long term conditions were not always being monitored in line with national guidance.
Whilst we found no other breaches of regulations, the provider should:
- In order to improve access, continue to monitor staffing levels at the practice.
- Continue to take action to ensure effective monitoring of patients diagnosed with long term conditions.
- Improve uptake rates for childhood immunisations and cervical screening.
Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.
Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP
Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care