Wye Valley Surgery

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Wye Valley Surgery in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire on 8 August 2023. Overall, the practice is rated as Good.

• Safe: Good
• Effective: Good
• Caring: Good
• Responsive: Good
• Well-led: Good

The practice has not been inspected under their current registration with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). In June 2019, the practice amended their CQC registration following the relocation of the practice to the current premises. Previously, the practice was inspected in 2018 and the overall rating was Good. The full reports for the previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Wye Valley Surgery on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we carried out this inspection

This inspection was the first comprehensive inspection under the new CQC registration.

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 facilities
• 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
• Discussions with patients, practice staff and the external stakeholders

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 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. Clinical searches and medical records we reviewed showed good management and monitoring of high-risk medicines and patients with long-term conditions.

• 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, despite rapid growth in the patient list size.

• The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.

• The practice supported various projects and pilots which demonstrated innovation and improvement, this included participation in a research study to address health inequalities and improve health outcomes for patients within the practice and in the wider South Asian community.

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

• Continue to take action to improve the uptake of cervical screening.

• Continue to take action to identify patients with caring responsibilities.

• Take steps to restart the patient participation group.

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 Healthcare