Wickham Park Surgery

On this page

• Overview
• Learning culture
• Safe systems, pathways and transitions
• Safeguarding
• Involving people to manage risks
• Safe environments
• Safe and effective staffing
• Infection prevention and control
• Medicines optimisation

We looked for evidence that people were protected from abuse and avoidable harm.

At our last assessment, we rated this key question as Good. At this assessment, the rating remains the same.

This service scored 72 (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 had a proactive and positive culture of safety, based on openness and honesty. They listened to concerns about safety and investigated and reported safety events. Lessons were learnt to continually identify and embed good practice.

People felt supported to raise concerns and felt staff treated them with compassion and understanding.

Managers encouraged staff to raise concerns when things went wrong. During staff meetings, the whole team discussed and learnt from clinical issues. We saw minutes of meetings to confirm this. Staff felt there was an open culture, and that safety was a top priority.

The provider had processes for staff to report incidents, near misses and safety events. We discussed significant events with the GPs and practice manager and saw that they were handled in line with their policy. For example, we discussed a prescribing medication event that occurred. The practice dealt with this in line with expectations and demonstrated that lessons learnt were discussed and shared appropriately.

There was a system to record and investigate complaints, and when things went wrong, staff apologised and gave people support. Learning from incidents and complaints resulted in changes that improved care for others.

The service worked with people and healthcare partners to establish and maintain safe systems of care, in which safety was managed or monitored. They made sure there was continuity of care, including when people moved between different services.

There were systems in place for processing information relating to new patients. Administration staff managed this process. New patient notes were received every week and processed on their system.

The service worked with other providers to deliver shared care and when patients moved between services.

Referrals and test results were managed in a timely way. Administration staff processed referrals every day. They ran a monthly report to audit and make sure no referral had been missed. The practice manager told us that the last monthly report showed that all referrals had been made and followed up appropriately. Laboratory results were reviewed and processed by a GP on the day they came through. They also received assistance from the primary care network who ran a pathology hub to monitor laboratory results for the practice.

The service worked with people and healthcare partners to understand what being safe meant to them and the best way to achieve that. They concentrated on improving people’s lives while protecting their right to live in safety, free from bullying, harassment, abuse, discrimination, avoidable harm and neglect. The service shared concerns quickly and appropriately.

One of the GPs was the safeguarding lead. They were proactive in ensuring the practice had robust systems in place for safeguarding. The practice had various initiatives to monitor and identify potential safeguarding. For example, all non-attendance for children at risk was followed up and families contacted for an explanation.

Safeguarding policies were in place and known to staff, who were appropriately trained in safeguarding procedures. The practice maintained a list of vulnerable people and acted on concerns working in partnership with other organisations.

The service generally worked well with people to understand and manage risks. They generally provided care to meet people’s needs that was safe, supportive and enabled people to do the things that mattered to them.

Emergency equipment was available and maintained. Improvements were required with regards to the way it was stored. Medicine items were stored in different locations in the surgery. The practice had two medical oxygen cylinders. One was empty and the other was half full. Not all staff demonstrated that they could confidently operate the cylinder or carry out the necessary checks. We reviewed the logs of the weekly and monthly checks to emergency medicines which were carried out appropriately.

Staff could recognise a deteriorating patient and knew of action to take. Patients were advised on risks related to their condition and actions to take if their condition deteriorated.

The service detected and controlled potential risks in the care environment. They made sure equipment, facilities and technology supported the delivery of safe care.

The GP partners owned the premises, and they were responsible for all maintenance matters related to the building. Contracts were in place to ensure the premises were maintained. We saw documents confirming that equipment had been calibrated, premises fire and legionella risk assessments had been completed and electrical testing carried out.

Health and safety risk assessments and audits had been undertaken and risks identified had been addressed. Premises risk assessments were completed in house along with weekly and monthly fire safety checks. There were appointed fire wardens who had received training in this role. There was a business continuity plan in place which was monitored and reviewed.

The service made sure there were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff, who received effective support, supervision and development. They worked together well to provide safe care that met people’s individual needs.

There were a range of clinical and non-clinical roles within the practice.

The practice manager had systems in place to monitor staff training. We reviewed records and saw certificates that confirmed training was up to date, learning needs and development of staff was managed appropriately, and staff were working within their agreed areas of competence.

Safe recruitment practices were generally followed. We reviewed six staff recruitment records and saw the practice collected documentation in line with the regulations. Improvements were required to ensure documents were collected and retained in a timely manner. For example, some of the files we reviewed had indemnity and induction paperwork missing. Staff assured us that there were in place and that the paperwork would be updated as a priority.

The service assessed and managed the risk of infection. They detected and controlled the risk of it spreading and shared concerns with appropriate agencies promptly.

The practice had a designated infection, prevention and control lead and all staff had had relevant training. We reviewed staff training records and saw that all staff were up to date.

Cleaning schedules were in place for staff and the external cleaners and followed.

Risk assessments and audits were completed every three months, and actions taken to mitigate risks. We reviewed the last audit completed in November 2025. Issues identified during the audit had been actioned and rectified.

The service made sure that medicines and treatments were safe and met people’s needs, capacities and preferences. They involved people in planning, including when changes happened.

Staff involved people in reviews of their medicines and helped them understand how to manage their medicines safely. People knew what to do and who to contact if their condition did not improve or they experienced any unexpected symptoms.

Staff received regular training, were competency assessed on medicines optimisation, and felt confident managing the storage, administration and recording of medicines.

Staff managed prescription stationery appropriately and securely. Prescription stationery was locked away and access was restricted to authorised staff only. Staff followed protocols to ensure they prescribed all medicines safely, and ensured people received all recommended medicines reviews and monitoring.

Medicines including controlled drugs were stored securely and at appropriate temperatures. Staff regularly checked the stock levels and expiry dates for all medicines, including emergency medicines, vaccines, and controlled drugs.

Waste medicines were recorded and disposed of appropriately including medicines returned by patients.

The provider had effective systems to manage and respond to safety alerts and medicine recalls. The practice manager was responsible for disseminating to the team. We saw there was appropriate arrangements in place for alerts to be shared. Staff followed established processes to ensure people prescribed medicines with specific risks received recommended monitoring. Staff took steps to ensure they prescribed medicines appropriately to optimise care outcomes, including antibiotics.