We carried out a review of the data available to us about Weald View Medical Practice - Hawkhurst 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 Weald View Medical Practice - Hawkhurst, you can give feedback on this service.
This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection July 2015 – Good)
The key questions are rated as:
Are services safe? – Good
Are services effective? – Good
Are services caring? – Good
Are services responsive? – Good
Are services well-led? - Good
As part of our inspection process, we also look at the quality of care for specific population groups. The population groups are rated as:
Older People – Good
People with long-term conditions – Good
Families, children and young people – Good
Working age people (including those recently retired and students – Good
People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable – Good
People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia) - Good
We carried out an announced, comprehensive inspection of this service under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. The inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
At this inspection we found:
The area where the provider should make improvement is:
Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)
Chief Inspector of General Practice
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at North Ridge Medical Practice on 14 July. Overall the practice is rated as good.
Specifically, we found the practice to be good for providing safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led services.
It was also good for providing services for the care of older people, the care of patients with long-term conditions, the care to working age people (including those recently retired and students), the care of families, children and young people, the care of patients whose circumstances may make them vulnerable and the care of patients experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia).
However there were areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.
Importantly the provider should
Chief Inspector of General Practice
The North Ridge Medical Practice provides primary medical care during week-day surgery hours for patients in Hawkhurst, Kent and the surrounding villages and countryside. The practice has four general practitioners (GPs), two of whom form the partnership and management team as the registered provider of services. The practice did not provide out of hours care nor were they linked to another provider.
As part of the inspection we talked with the local clinical commissioning group, the local Healthwatch and members of the patient participation group (PPG). We spoke with a small number of patients who were at the practice on the day of the inspection, GPs, clinical staff and administrative staff at the practice. We received nine responses to the comments cards that were available at the surgery during our visit. A patient we spoke with had concerns about the waiting time to get an appointment with the GPs. All the comments on the comment cards were complimentary about the care and treatment.
We also spoke with three PPG representatives. Though the group was new they had a very positive view of the practice. They felt that patients were seen quickly and that patient confidentially was respected. They believed that patients would be listened to if they had any complaints about the practice. They felt the practice had already responded to some of the issues raised in the recent patient survey.
We found that some processes were in place to learn from significant events, though not all events that should have been reported had been reported. The clinical results of the practice showed very good patient outcomes, but staff reported not having enough time to complete all tasks safely. There were concerns about the management of medicines. One concern had been resolved by our second visit. The remaining concern, about the fridges used to store some medicines, had not. We saw that GPs and staff were kind and caring. There were inconsistencies within the leadership of the practice. Some areas such as mental health appeared well led. Others areas, such as communicating with staff and routine checks on policies, premises and stock items were not.
There were services for older patients provided by the GPs and the practice nurse. There were also services for patients with long term conditions. There was information available to them to maintain as healthy a lifestyle as possible. There was a range of clinics and services for mothers, babies, children and young patients including well woman clinics and child health clinics. Patients of working age or recently retired had services which were available to them in that there were extended hours one day a week. GPs had telephone appointments for those who might not be able to attend during the standard working day. The practice gave an example of providing services to patients who were of no fixed abode. The outcomes for patients who had experienced mental health problems were very favourable compared with surrounding similar practices.
We found that Regulation 13 Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010 concerning the management of medicines had not been met.
We found that Regulation 10 Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010 concerning the systematic approach to managing risk had not been met.