Stonecot Surgery

On this page

• Overview
• Person-centred Care
• Care provision, Integration and continuity
• Providing Information
• Listening to and involving people
• Equity in access
• Equity in experiences and outcomes
• Planning for the future

We looked for evidence that the service met people’s needs, and that staff treated people equally and without discrimination.
At our last assessment, we rated this key question as Good. At this assessment, the rating has improved.

This service scored 89 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The service made sure people were at the centre of their care and treatment choices and they decided, in partnership with people, how to respond to any relevant changes in people’s needs.
Care plans reflected physical, mental, emotional, and social needs of patients including those related to protected characteristics under the Equality Act. Our review of clinical records showed patients were supported to understand their condition and were involved in planning for their care needs. They were also involved in decisions about their care.

The service had an exceptional understanding of the diverse health and care needs of people and their local communities, so care was joined-up, flexible and supported choice and continuity.
The practice had identified key groups and needs in its patient population and was working in different ways to improve their care and outcomes.
The practice ran ‘health check’ sessions at a local mosque, including checking people’s blood pressure and weight, and ran sessions with information and advice about diabetes and chronic kidney disease (CKD). The CKD session was attended by 54 people. The service carried out a formal evaluation after the event, looking at what went well and could been improved, including improving engagement with women who attend the mosque.
The practice had been asked to run more sessions on other topics, including on healthy diets for young people.
For patients diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, the practice ran group consultations in the surgery. The practice had plans to build a wellbeing room and use this to run more group consultations on other health conditions.
The service installed machines that allowed people to check their blood pressure, weight and height without the need for an appointment, and trained non-clinical staff on how to record these on patients’ records and escalate any concerning results.
So that people did not have to make unnecessary extra visits to the surgery, staff had access to a dashboard of all monitoring that someone needed for their long-term condition or to make sure their medicine was working safely. Staff checked this whenever someone contacted the service or came in for an appointment so that everything that was needed could be completed on the same visit.
The service adjusted the provision to help people who needed more support to arrange their care. For example, they identified women aged 25 – 49 were less likely to take up the offer of cervical screening. To improve this, the service set up the information system to identify people due for cervical screening and contact them using automated calls and text messages. The text messages contained a link to allow people to book an appointment at a convenient time, including on Saturdays. The same system was used to support people who had not booked appointments for monitoring or reviews of their medicines or long-term conditions.
We saw data that showed that after the automated messaging process had been launched in June 2025, uptake was better in every month compared to the same month in 2024 – and increased by 7% overall.

The service supplied appropriate, accurate and up-to-date information in formats that were tailored to individual needs.
Information to promote the take up of screening and immunisation programmes was available in a range of languages. The practice had access to interpreter services, including British Sign Language. Information provided by the service met the Accessible Information Standard. Patients were informed as to how to access their care records.
Information was provided in other languages for the health sessions delivered at the local mosque. The service created posters with clear health messages about diabetes and CKD which were presented both in English and Urdu.
To help older people understand support available locally, the practice hosted an information session by Age UK. We heard that this was well received and attended.
The practice developed a carers pack with information about the support available for those looking after an older or disabled person.

The service was exceptional at enabling people to share feedback and ideas, or raise complaints about their care, treatment and support. They involved people in decisions about their care and told them what had changed as a result.
We saw complaints were managed in line with the practice’s policy. Learning from complaints was evident and staff were able to identify changes made as a result of patient feedback, including complaints.
The practice encouraged people to give feedback by using the Friends and Family Test. This is a one-word survey, asking people "Overall, how was your experience of our service?" with responses ranging from "very good" to "very poor", with an opportunity to explain the response. The practice reviewed individual responses and monitored for trends.
In 2023 the practice noticed that satisfaction on Friends and Family Test had dropped because people said it was hard to get through to the practice by phone. The practice carried out a review of call volumes, the phone system and how calls were handled. Staff who answered the practice phones were given targeted training on how best to use the functions of the phone system, and on call prioritisation, safe signposting, and demand management principles. The practice checked staff understood what they had been taught and had a programme of supervised call monitoring and refresher training.
As a result, the percentage of calls answered improved from 67% in July 2023 to 91% in November 2023 and the length of time people waited reduced. Patient feedback improved also improved, increasing from an average of 86% positive on the Friends and Family Test to an average of average 92% positive. No National GP survey available for is 2023. More recent data shows that satisfaction with getting through to the practice by phone improved from 61% (national average 50%) in 2024 to 76% (national average 53%) in 2025.
We saw data that showed that the practice had sustained the improvements made.
The practice looked after older people at 2 nursing/residential homes. The practice surveyed staff in different roles at these services to understand how care could be improved. The survey found 100% satisfaction with the accessibility and responsiveness of GPs. The practice created an action plan to address the only area where there was not complete satisfaction (prescribing processes). The plan also had actions to monitor the care delivered to these people in other ways as well as repeating the survey annually, including monitoring the time taken to respond to urgent and routine requests against target times.

The service was exceptional at ensuring people could access the care, support and treatment they needed when they needed it.
173 people contacted us with feedback for this assessment. Only one person said that it was sometimes hard to get an appointment. No-one described any issues with contacting the practice.
In the 2025 National GP Patient Survey:
- 76% said that it was easy to get through to the contact their GP practice on the phone (significantly above the national average of 53%).
- 71% said that they were offered a choice of time or day when they last tried to make an appointment (above the national average of 54%)
- 86% felt they waited about the right amount of time for their last general practice appointment (above the national average of 67%)
- 84% said that their experience of contacting their GP practice was good (above the national average of 70%).

Between 2023 and 2025 the practice population increased by approximately 9%. Over the same period the service increased the number of appointments provided by approximately 25%, to better meet people’s expectations and to provide capacity to improve how care is delivered.
People could access the service to suit their needs for example online, in person and by telephone. Treatment rooms were available on the ground floor, and a ramp and automatic door had been fitted to the entrance.
People with long term conditions were offered a choice of appointments in advance for their reviews, which they could choose to book online from a text message. People seeking advice or an appointment for a short-term condition were offered a same day appointment for symptoms where more urgency was indicated, or a routine appointment, which was usually the next day.
All staff told us of an ethos of responsiveness to people’s views as well as clinical indications. People’s concerns about the symptoms was a factor documented in guidance for staff who booked appointments. We heard that it was not uncommon for people who were particularly concerned to receive a same day consultation (which could be by telephone) rather than a routine appointment.
The practice had introduced same-day appointments with a prescribing clerk to help people with prescription queries and because this worked well, had recently introduced a same-day callback list for people with queries about matters like referrals, Fit Notes and medical reports. People added to this list received a call on the same day from an administrative staff member. This meant that people with administrative queries could be assured of a timely response while ensuring that appointments with clinical staff were available for those who needed them. Since 12 January 2026 when admin appointments were introduced, 181 people had received one.
Telephone performance was reviewed monthly at leadership level with trend analysis and exception reporting. Any variance below target prompted immediate review, including rota adjustments, additional support, or refresher training. Real-time monitoring of call volumes allowed responsive staffing adjustments during peak demand periods to maintain service resilience. Periodic reviews of the handling of individual calls were undertaken to maintain standards and support continuous improvement.

Staff and leaders were innovative in how they listened to information about people who are most likely to experience inequality in experience or outcomes. Staff and leaders actively used this information to provide exceptionally tailored care, support and treatment in response to this.
Feedback provided by people using the service, both to the provider as well as to CQC, was almost all positive.
The practice was registered as a Safe Surgery. Staff at the practice had received extra training to ensure that they understood entitlement to NHS care, common barriers to those in vulnerable circumstances (which also include homeless people and Travellers) and good practice. There was information in the practice and on the practice website to explain to people that they could register regardless of proof of identity or nationality.
The service had chosen to be accredited as a Veteran Friendly GP Practice because of the number of people locally who serve or have served in the armed forces locally. The leading housing provider for ex-Service personnel in the UK had more than 300 properties in the area, several of which were within 1 mile of the practice. The scheme helps GP practices to identify and support people who serve or have served in the armed forces and their families, for example with referral to specific health services. The service took the specific needs of veterans into account in planning changes and improvements, for example the work to improve care of people with and at risk of frailty.
Staff treated people equally and without discrimination. Patients could choose whether they used the online consultation tool – it was not the default option - and many people choose to contact the practice by phone.
Staff understood the importance of providing an inclusive approach to care and made individual adjustments to support equity in people’s experience and outcomes.
Staff who answered the practice phones were trained in active listening, safeguarding awareness, and appropriate escalation to clinical teams where required.
The practice looked after people with learning disability who lived in 2 supported living settings. Leaders had identified that people with learning disability were at additional risk of developing long-term health conditions related to diet. To help reduce this, the practice ran food education and cooking classes for these people, with a local charity. Feedback from people who had attended the classes was positive. The service heard that people now found it easier to visit the service for care, as staff were familiar and associated with pleasant experiences rather than just with illness and vaccinations.
The practice had a dedicated clinical staff member who carried out home visits for housebound people. The practice also took part in local initiatives to successfully improve the care for their older patients. For example, the practice was part of a scheme to improve identification, access, coordination and outcomes for patients living with advanced serious illness, severe frailty and end-of-life care needs. The practice gave identified people a number to call for fast phone access, calls were triaged within 2 hours and people received same-day advice, prescriptions, home visits or onward referral, with urgent medication delivery where clinically appropriate.
We saw data that showed that the practice supported the highest number of suitable patients and recorded the greatest volume of interactions with patients across all participating practices. Patient satisfaction with the service was high and 42% of those who used the service said that it definitely prevented hospital attendance.
The initiative has now been expanded in scope, and the practice continues to participate.

People were supported to plan for important life changes, so they could have enough time to make informed decisions about their future, including at the end of their life.
Our records review showed people were supported to consider their wishes for their end-of-life care, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation. This information was shared with other services when necessary.
The practice had the highest number of nursing home residents with Universal Care Plans (UCP) in place within the borough.
The practice was asked by the borough’s Enhanced Support for Care Homes team to present how the practice created and used UCPs to improve take up of UCPs by other practices.