Millbarn Medical Centre

Ratings

• Overall

  Outstanding

• Safe

  Good

• Effective

  Good

• Caring

  Outstanding

• Responsive

  Outstanding

• Well-led

  Outstanding

Our view of the service

Date of assessment: 2 February to 24 February 2026

Millbarn Medical Centre is a GP practice in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire and delivers GP services to approximately 10,467 patients under a contract held with NHS England. The practice is a GP practice within Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board (ICB).

The National General Practice Profiles states that the practice population largely follows the national averages in terms of age profile, with the exception of patients aged between 24 and 44 which was significantly lower when compared to the national average. Information published by Office for Health Improvement and Disparities shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the 10th decile (10 of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice population is relative to others. This inspection considered the demographics of the people using the service, the context the service was working within and how this impacted service delivery.

Where relevant, further commentary is provided in the quality statements section of this report.

This inspection was carried out following changes to the practice’s registration with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) which included a relocation to purpose built premises in August 2022. We assessed all quality statements across the safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led key questions.

The overall rating following this inspection is ‘Outstanding’, specifically the provision of caring, responsive and well-led services have been rated ‘Outstanding’, whilst the provision of safe and effective services have been rated ‘Good’. At this inspection we saw:

• The practice had a proactive learning culture and people could raise concerns. The leadership team investigated incidents thoroughly. Patients, staff and visitors were protected and kept safe. Staff understood and managed risks. The facilities and equipment met the needs of people, were clean and well-maintained and any risks mitigated. There were enough staff with the right skills, qualifications and experience. Leaders made sure staff received training and regular appraisals to maintain high-quality care. Staff managed medicines well and involved people in planning any changes.

• Patients were involved in assessments of their needs. Staff supported people to manage their health and wellbeing to fully maximise their independence, choice and control. The practice supported patients and the community to live healthier lives and where possible, reduce their future needs for care and support. Care was based on latest evidence and good practice. Staff worked with other services and system partners involved in people’s care for the best outcomes and smooth transitions when moving services. Staff made sure people understood their care and treatment to enable them to give informed consent. Staff involved those important to people took decisions in people’s best interests where they did not have capacity.

• Patients were always treated with kindness and compassion, felt truly respected and valued as individuals and this was reflected in a range of feedback collected as part of this inspection. We saw a variety of examples where staff took account of patient’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and backgrounds in the provision of person-centred care. The practice supported and promoted staff wellbeing.

• Care and treatment was easily accessible, flexible, provided informed choice and ensured continuity of care. This was reflected in the feedback collected. Technology was used innovatively to ensure patients had timely access to treatment, support and care. Staff spoke of the aim to provide: “Right appointment, Right clinician at the first time”. This was reflected in the feedback collected and data reviewed. Patients knew how to give feedback and were confident the practice took it seriously and acted on it. The practice worked to reduce health and care inequalities through enhanced staff training and acting on patient feedback.

• Leaders had established an inclusive, positive, learning and improvement culture and were driving improvements in outcomes for people who accessed services at Millbarn Medical Centre and wider communities. There were consistent examples of how an inclusive supportive and collaborative leadership approach had driven improvements in safety, sustainability, care integration, meeting people's needs and addressing inequalities for people who used services alongside practice staff. Governance and management systems enabled leaders to identify and act on information about risks performance and outcomes. Leaders drove continuous efforts to maintain and improve understanding of ways of working, including staff and people's experiences to proactively mitigate risk and improve care delivery. Leaders recognised their role as drivers of a strong safety culture, and this was visible within the practice and throughout the inspection. Staff feedback during the inspection was positive with staff stating there was a supportive team-based culture and all staff we spoke to were passionate about delivering high quality service.

People's experience of this service

Patients were consistently positive about how they accessed care and treatment and the overall quality of the care they received. Specifically, feedback sourced from the National GP Patient Survey regarding access and patient experience was higher when compared to local and national averages. For example, in 2025:

• 80% of respondents found it easy to get through to the practice by telephone. This was significantly higher when compared to the local average (54%) and the national average (53%).

• 89% of respondents described their overall experience of the practice as good. This was significantly higher when compared to the local average (76%) and the national average (75%).

The practice promoted and monitored patient feedback that was collected via the NHS ‘Friends and Family’ Test results. We reviewed the most recent responses collected and verified from November 2025 (183 responses), December 2025 (184 responses) and January 2026 (186 responses). Using the combined responses from the last 3 months, 95% rated the service received at the practice as either ‘Good’ or ‘Very Good’.

We spoke with the manager from a local care home who had 36 of their residents registered with the practice. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive regarding the practice providing a caring, compassionate and accessible service through weekly ward rounds. Feedback highlighted the visiting teams were proactive, engaging, extremely attentive, kind and provided excellent care and support. Further feedback highlighted the continuity of care and the long-standing positive relationships between the practice, the care home and the residents.

We received feedback from patients as a result of the practice sharing information and the direct website link to ‘CQC Give Feedback on Care’ to patients, which was all positive. Patients gave examples of staff being kind, compassionate and problem solvers. Feedback highlighted many examples of practice staff providing exceptional levels of person-centred care and being empowered as a partner in their care. Further comments referred to examples of staff members showing determination and creativity to overcome obstacles to deliver care. This indicated that, a caring, helpful and listening culture was embedded within the practice.

There was an active patient participation group (PPG) with 7 core members who represented the views of people using the practice. We spoke with representatives from the PPG, and they described the strong relationship between the practice and the PPG, and how the practice encouraged, respected and valued their involvement. They explained that the relationship was proactive, providing a forum to discuss issues important to patients which were then shared with the practice team. The meetings provided an environment for discussions and agreements about the practice and services provided and members were encouraged to contribute their views and suggestions.

The PPG provided various examples of working together with the practice, they felt fully involved and were active in the co-design of the current appointment and triage system and influenced changes for the new premises which led to the relocation in 2022. This included suggestions for accessible furniture to be added to the waiting areas which we saw the practice had implemented. Given the successful use of online and digital access, we heard how the PPG engaged with the local Integrated Care Board (responsible for planning and commissioning local health services, managing NHS budgets, and improving population health within specific areas) to embed similar tools across the local health system, using the practice as a potential blueprint for online access.

The representatives we spoke to also shared feedback from a patient’s perspective, this was highly positive, highlighting the benefits of the triage system, the clinical skill mix and the brand-new building and facilities.