Caldbeck Surgery

Updated 14 December 2018

Caldbeck Surgery is registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide primary care services. The practice is located in the village of Caldbeck on the edge of the Lake District National Park in Cumbria.

The practice provides services to around 4,400 patients from one location: Friar Row, Caldbeck, Wigton, Cumbria, CA7 8DS. We visited this address as part of the inspection.

Staff at the practice comprises six GP partners (five female, one male), three practice nurses (all female), one healthcare assistant (male), a practice manager, an assistant practice manager, a medicines manager, a team of administrative, reception and dispensary staff, three delivery drivers and a cleaner.

The practice is part of North Cumbria clinical commissioning group (CCG). The practice population is weighted more towards older people in terms of age distribution. There are more patients in all age groups over 65 than both the local and national averages, and fewer patients in all age groups under 65. Information taken from Public Health England placed the area in which the practice is located in the fourth least deprived decile. In general, people living in more deprived areas tend to have greater need for health services. Life expectancy for both male and females is slightly above local and national averages (female – 85 compared to the CCG average of 83, and male – 81 compared to the CCG average of 79).

The practice is located in a purpose-built two-storey building. Patient facilities are all on the ground. There is dedicated car parking at the site, plus additional free parking nearby. There is a disabled WC and step-free access. The practice has a dispensary where patients can collect medications. The practice dispenses medicines to patients on the practice list who live more than one mile from a pharmacy. They also offer a delivery service to take medicines to patients who struggle to come in to the surgery or attend a pharmacy.

Opening hours are between 8am and 6.30pm Monday to Friday. Patients can book appointments in person, on-line or by telephone. From October 1st, extended access appointments in the evenings and weekends are available at a nearby “hub”.

The practice provides services to patients of all ages based on a General Medical Services (GMS) contract agreement for general practice.

The service for patients requiring urgent medical attention out of hours is provided by the NHS 111 service and Cumbria Health on Call Limited (CHoC).

Updated 14 December 2018

This practice is rated as Outstanding overall. (Previous rating July 2015 – Good)

The key questions at this inspection are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Outstanding

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? - Outstanding

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Caldbeck Surgery on 19 October 2018 as part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

• The practice had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes.
• The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
• There was strong collaboration and support across all staff and a common focus on improving quality of care and people’s experiences.

We also saw some areas of outstanding practice:

• There was a clear proactive approach to seeking out and embedding new ways of providing care and treatment. The leadership at the practice put staff at the top of their hierarchy, and this culture had driven and improved the delivery of high-quality person-centred care. Improvements included a reduction in certain prescriptions, an increase in the number of patients seeing the same clinician when they visited the practice, and the introduction of a virtual diabetes clinic which had coincided with improvements in outcomes for diabetic patients.
• Staff and patients gave multiple examples of times when the practice had shown determiniation and creativity to overcome obstacles to delivering care. This had led to the practice receiving extremely positive feedback from patients. In the National GP Patient Survey in 2018 the practice scored above local and national averages for all questions and were consistently in the top three practices locally for their scores regarding care and treatment.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice

Please refer to the detailed report and the evidence tables for further information.

Updated 14 December 2018

Updated 14 December 2018

Updated 14 December 2018

Updated 14 December 2018

Updated 14 December 2018

Updated 14 December 2018