The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

Loxwood Medical Practice

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Farm Close, Loxwood, Billingshurst, West Sussex, RH14 0SU (01403) 752246

Provided and run by:
Loxwood Medical Practice

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

Date of Assessment: 30 April 2026. Loxwood Medical Practice is a GP practice and delivers services to approximately 7050 people under a contract held with NHS England. According to the latest available data, the ethnic make-up of the service area is approximately 96.7% White, 0.9% Asian, 1.8% Mixed, 0.4% Black and 0.2% Other. Information published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities shows deprivation within the service population group is in the 8th decile (8 of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the service population is relative to others.

This was a focused assessment. We undertook this assessment due to the length of time since our last assessment. We assessed 10 quality statements from across all 5 key questions. This assessment considered the demographics of the people using the service, the context the service was working within and how this impacted service delivery. Where relevant, further commentary is provided in the quality statements section of this report.

The practice followed safe recruitment procedures when employing staff. This included identity checks, review of qualifications, professional references and an appropriate criminal records check. Staff were up to date with their mandatory training and operated within their agreed scope of competences. Effective systems were in place to monitor staff training and continuing professional registration.

The service kept facilities clean and maintained equipment appropriately to ensure people were kept safe. They assessed and managed the risk of infection well and took steps to control the risk of it spreading. There were enough staff with the right skills, qualifications and experience.

Staff supported people to live healthier lives, monitoring their care and treatment to ensure they received positive and consistent outcomes.

Staff treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion, and respected their privacy and dignity.

People could access care, treatment and support when they needed it. Leaders and staff were alert to inequality that could disadvantage groups of people who used the service and sought ways to address any barriers.

The service had a clear vision and strategy, which considered the needs of the people who used their service and the wider community. Staff understood their individual roles and responsibilities. Leaders accounted for the actions, behaviours and performance of staff through clear and effective governance processes.

9 August 2019

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of Loxwood Medical Centre on 15 March 2019. The overall rating for the practice was good. The practice was also rated good for providing effective, caring, responsive and well-led care. All the population groups were rated good. It was, however, rated as requires improvement for providing safe services. This was because: -

  • Risks to patients, staff and visitors were not assessed, monitored and managed in an effective manner.
  • The practice did not always have effective systems for the appropriate and safe use of medicines.

The full comprehensive report on the 15 March 2019 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Loxwood Medical Centre on our website.

After the inspection in March 2019 the practice wrote to us with an action plan outlining how they would make the necessary improvements to comply with the regulations.

This inspection was an announced focused inspection carried out on 9 August 2019 to ensure that the practice was now complying with the regulations.

Overall the practice continues to be rated as good and is now rated good for providing safe services.

At this inspection our key findings were: -

  • Vaccines were now stored securely with access restricted only to authorised staff.
  • Blank prescriptions were kept securely, and their use monitored in line with national guidance.
  • Emergency medicines were stored in one place, so they could be accessed easily in an emergency.
  • Directions on dispensing labels could be printed separately in large print if required.
  • Dispensing staff were being competency assessed to ensure they followed the practice’s standard operating procedures.
  • Risks relating to the health, safety had been assessed and were being acted on, particularly in relation to fire and health and safety risk assessments.
  • The practice had implemented a system for recording and acting on all safety alerts received.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGPChief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care

Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.

15 March 2019

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Loxwood Medical Practice on 15 March 2019 as part of our inspection programme.

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 for providing effective, caring, responsive and well led services. We have rated it as requires improvement for providing safe services. The population groups have been rated as good.


Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

  • The practice had 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.
  • Performance against the quality and outcomes framework indicators was consistently higher than average. There was a significant positive variation for diabetes and mental health indicators.
  • Staff supported people to live healthier lives, including identifying those who needed extra support, through a targeted and proactive approach to health promotion and prevention of ill-health.
  • The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs. The premises were clean and hygienic. The continuing development of the staff’s skills, competence and knowledge was recognised as being integral to ensuring high-quality care.
  • Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
  • The practice sought feedback from patients, which it acted on.
  • Patient satisfaction in relation to the way they were cared for and timely access to services was consistently higher than average.
  • Feedback form other professionals who worked with the practice was positive and communication between them and the practice was described as ‘excellent’.
  • The practice had a clear vision to improve patient services across the rural area, staff resilience and practice sustainability.
  • There was a strong commitment to collaborative working with other organisations to provide holistic ‘joined up care’ for patients.

We rated the practice requires improvement for providing safe services because:

  • Risks to patients, staff and visitors were not assessed, monitored and managed in an effective manner.
  • The practice did not always have effective systems for the appropriate and safe use of medicines.

The areas where the provider must make improvements are:

  • Ensure care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

  • Keep a central record that provides an audit trail of action taken in response to external medicine and patient safety alerts.

19 April 2016

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Loxwood Medical Practice on 19 April 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

  • There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
  • Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
  • Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
  • Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
  • Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns.
  • Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
  • The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
  • There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
  • The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

  • The practice wrote to all patients on reaching their 16th birthday to ensure that their contact details were correct and to reassure confidentiality. Patients were signposted to the practice website for information on local services for young people.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

  • Ensure that only staff who have a received the appropriate checks act as chaperones to patients.

  • Ensure that staff signing for the disposal of controlled drugs include their full name and the date on documentation.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice