• Doctor
  • GP practice

The Wooda Surgery

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Clarence Wharf, Barnstaple Street, Bideford, Devon, EX39 4AU (01237) 471071

Provided and run by:
The Wooda Surgery

All Inspections

6 July 2023

During a monthly review of our data

We carried out a review of the data available to us about The Wooda Surgery 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 The Wooda Surgery, you can give feedback on this service.

9 October 2019

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We undertook an inspection of this service on 9 October 2019 following our annual review of the information available to us. This inspection looked at the following key questions; was the service providing effective and well led services for the registered patient population. We decided not to inspect whether the practice was providing safe, caring or responsive services as there was no information from the annual regulatory review which indicated this was necessary.

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 and good for all population groups.

We found that:

  • The practice had an ethos of delivering care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
  • Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
  • Audit was used effectively and provided systematic identification of patterns and themes.
  • Staff were developed and supported with a range of training in line with their role to ensure services were of high quality.
  • The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.
  • Governance and safety systems were an overarching theme at the practice.
  • Quality improvement initiatives were evidenced showing positive impact for patients.
  • The practice was engaged in local initiatives and worked effectively alongside partners in the local healthcare and social care system. For example, providing leadership for the newly formed Primary Care Network in the Torridge area.

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

  • The practice should review arrangements to improve the uptake for patients receiving cervical screening.
  • Continue to review actions to improve uptake of reviews by patients with long term conditions

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

28 September 2017

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

This announced focused inspection was carried out on 28 September 2017. The practice and the Care Quality Commission had received concerns about how patient blood test results were communicated and led to medicine changes in the system. The focus of the inspection was to determine whether safeguarding and risk reduction systems were embedded within the practice.

At the previous comprehensive inspection on 2 October 2014 we saw the practice was making improvements as a result of learning from a safeguarding process. In January 2015, the published overall rating for the practice was Good. The full comprehensive report for the October 2014 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Wooda Surgery on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Overall the practice is rated as Good

Our key findings were as follows:

  • The practice had clearly defined and embedded systems to reduce potential risks for patients. Governance had been strengthened and the monitoring of results demonstrated timely involvement of specialist hospital teams where appropriate and successful outcomes for patients receiving treatment for wounds.

  • From the sample we reviewed, we found there was an effective system for reporting and recording significant events; lessons were shared to make sure action was taken to improve safety in the practice.Examples seen demonstrated wider engagement across the health and social care sector.A resolution of how blood results and medicine changes for patients would be communicated to nursing homes had been agreed.The practice had initiated discussions and been involved in the development of a North Devon wide wound management protocol for community and practice nursing teams.This also provided guidance about when to refer a patient to the hospital specialist tissue viability team.

  • Succession planning and implementation of GP recruitment and retention was effective, within the context of the severe national shortage of GPs.

  • The clinical team of GPs had changed by 50% and the management team had totally changed since the Wooda Surgery was last inspected. Half of patients registered at the practice had been allocated a new named GP and as a result of these changes their care and follow up needs were reviewed at the same time.

  • Audit was used proactively in the planning and improved patient access to a range of appointments each day.  A triage system was in place, which had safeguards in place to promote continuity of care, reduction of any potential risks and appropriate signposting took place for patients. GP sessions during absences were covered internally with few locum GPs being used.  The practice policy prevented locum staff from doing triage so that only GP partners did this.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

2 October 2014

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

The Wooda Surgery was inspected on Thursday 2 October 2014. This was a comprehensive inspection.

The Wooda Surgery provides primary medical services to people living in the North Devon town of Bideford, and the surrounding areas. The practice provides services to a diverse population age group and is situated in a residential area of the town.

At the time of our inspection there were approximately 9,000 patients registered at the service with a team of eight GP partners who held managerial and financial responsibility for running the business, working with a managing partner. In addition there was a regular locum GP. The practice is a GP training practice, currently providing training and support for a registrar and a foundation year two (F2) student on placement.

Patients who use the practice have access to community staff including district nurses, community psychiatric nurses, health visitors, physiotherapists, mental health staff, counsellors, chiropodist and midwives.

There was a volunteer patient support service called Wooda Plus.  A team of volunteers who provided a befriending service to the whole of the patient population.  They also co-ordinated and provided a transport facility for patients to get to The Wooda Surgery and also provided transport to other healthcare agencies including hospital appointments in Barnstaple.  This was funded by donations and a fundraising program and mainly benefitted older people.

The opening times are 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday. Patients can make appointments with GPs and nurses after 6pm on Mondays and Thursdays.

We rated this practice as good.

Our key findings were as follows:

  • Patients were pleased they could get appointments on the day if necessary, because of the duty system.

  • The practice was well-led and had a clear leadership structure in place whilst retaining a sense of mutual respect and team work. There were systems in place to monitor and improve quality and identify risk and systems to manage emergencies.

  • There was a high regard for training and encouraging staff to develop their practice.

  • Carer assessments were carried out by a nurse and a health care assistant who had undertaken specialist training. A family carer confirmed that the support for carers was very good.

We saw areas of outstanding practice including:

  • The practice provided a high quality service for patients with diabetes, with qualified nurses trained to provide care and support to patients in collaboration with the GPs and health care professionals in secondary care. Using structured education about diabetes, nurses helped patients manage their condition, including management of insulin.

  • There had been effective co-working with the Devon-wide adult substance misuse service. The service focused on harm reduction, particularly in the early stages of treatment for people with high-risk lifestyles. Two GPs recently completed the training for the shared care scheme to support this programme, so they could offer long term support to stable patients who were on a drug and alcohol programme, including giving their prescriptions.

  • The practice invested in a centrifuge so blood samples could be kept overnight and still be acceptable to the laboratory after collection each morning.  This resulted in more flexibility for patients because health care assistants could now appointments to take blood samples in the afternoons as well as mornings.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice