- GP practice
Castletown Medical Centre
Report from 3 April 2025 assessment
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of Assessment: 13 May 2025 to 4 June 2025
Castletown Medical Centre is a GP practice which delivers services to approximately 2,110 patients under a contract held with NHS England.
The provider of the service took over the running of the practice from October 2024. They are a provider at scale who provide services at 8 other practices. The practice had been previously rated Requires Improvement overall at an inspection which took place in July and August 2024 under the registration of the previous provider. We inspected this practice due to this risk and due to the new registration of the current provider.
The National General Practice Profiles states that deprivation within the practice population group is in the first decile (1 of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice population is relative to others. This assessment 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.
The service had a good learning culture and people could raise concerns. Managers investigated incidents thoroughly. People 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. Managers made sure staff received training and regular appraisals to maintain high-quality care. Staff managed medicines well and involved people in planning any changes.
People were involved in assessments of their needs. Staff reviewed assessments taking account of people’s communication, personal and health needs. Care was based on latest evidence and good practice. Staff worked with all agencies 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.
People were treated with kindness and compassion. Staff protected their privacy and dignity. They treated them as individuals and supported their preferences. People had choice in their care and treatment. The service supported staff wellbeing.
People were involved in decisions about their care. The service provided information people could understand. People knew how to give feedback and were confident the service took it seriously and acted on it. The service was easy to access and worked to eliminate discrimination. People received fair and equal care and treatment. The service worked to reduce health and care inequalities through training and feedback. People were involved in planning their care and understood options around choosing to withdraw or not receive care.
Leaders and staff had a shared vision and culture based on listening, learning and trust. Leaders were visible, knowledgeable and supportive, helping staff develop in their roles. Staff felt supported to give feedback and were treated equally, free from bullying or harassment. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities. Managers worked with the local community to deliver the best possible care and were receptive to new ideas. There was a culture of continuous improvement with staff given time and resources to try new ideas.
People's experience of this service
People were positive about the quality of their care and treatment. The recent survey results, from the NHS Friends and Family Test, showed people were satisfied with services.
We saw 6 months of friends and family results from when the provider took over the practice. Of 555 patients who responded, 530 (95%) said their experience at the practice was either very good or good. Only 15 patients said it was very poor or poor (less than 3%). Comments included references to caring and lovely doctors and friendly and professional staff.
We spoke with 1 patient about their experience at the practice. They told us the new team were brilliant. They had recommended the practice to a friend.
We would usually comment on the results of the National GP Patient Survey; however the results were from when the previous provider was running the practice, so we have not included this data.
The practice intended in the future to complete additional patient surveys, however due to the short timeframe from taking over the service to date this had not been possible. They were in the process of having a new check in and out board installed which would give patients the option to give feedback on how their visit was. They were awaiting the installation of a TV in waiting room to advertise how patients could give feedback.
The practice did not have an active patient participation group (PPG). This was in the process of being organised.
The commission had not received any feedback from patients in the last six months, this included complaints.