The Care Quality Commission
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Archived: Carnewater Practice

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

The Health Centre, Dennison Road, Bodmin, Cornwall, PL31 2LB (01208) 269988

Provided and run by:
The Carnewater Practice

Important: The provider of this service changed. See new profile

All Inspections

03 March 2022

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out an announced inspection at Carnewater Practice on 1 and 3 March 2022. Overall, the practice is rated as Good.

Safe - Good

Effective - Good

Well-led - Good

Following our previous inspection on 7 June 2017, the practice was rated Good overall and for all key questions.

The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Carnewater Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we carried out this inspection

CQC undertook this inspection at the same time as we inspected a range of urgent and emergency care services in Kernow. To understand the experience of GP providers and people who use GP services, we asked a range of questions in relation to urgent and emergency care. The responses we received have been used to inform and support system wide feedback.

How we carried out the inspection

Throughout the pandemic CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, taking into account the circumstances arising as a result of the pandemic, and in order to reduce risk, we have conducted our inspections differently.

This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site. This was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements.

This included;

  • Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing facilities,
  • Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system and discussing findings with the provider,
  • Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider,
  • Requesting evidence from the provider,
  • A short site visit,
  • A staff questionnaire.

Our findings

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

We found that:

  • 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.
  • Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
  • The practice adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
  • The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centred care.

Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:

  • Review and monitor cervical screening uptake rates and continue to encourage eligible women to attend for screening.

  • Review processes to improve uptakes for childhood immunisations.

  • Undertake an infection prevention control audit to ensure effective systems to manage infection prevention and control were in place.

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

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care

10 May 2017

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Carnewater Practice on 10 May 2017. 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 a system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
  • The practice had clearly defined and embedded systems to minimise risks to patient safety. Staff were trained in safeguarding, including modern slavery.
  • Staff were aware of current evidence based guidance. Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills and knowledge to deliver effective care and treatment.
  • Results from the national GP patient survey showed patients were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.

  • 100% of patients diagnosed with dementia had their care reviewed in a face to face meeting in the last 12 months, which is better than the national average of 84%.

  • Information about services and how to complain was available. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns.
  • Patients we spoke with 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. We found suitable arrangements were in place which ensured the cleanliness of the practice was maintained to a high standard.

  • 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 the requirements of the duty of candour. Examples we reviewed showed the practice complied with these requirements.
  • The practice had organised and taken part in a sponsored walk for a local charity.
  • The patient group had also won two awards; one for ‘health promotion’, which included holding a health fare in Bodmin, raising funds for a defibrillator in a remote village and organising diabetes and healthy eating awareness events. The second award was for ‘changes made as a consequence of the participation group’, which included parking near the practice and the purchase of new equipment.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

The Carnewater Patient Participation Group (CPPG) were proactive in carrying out extensive research into Doctors Surgery Access and Community Transport Survey to GP services in rural areas. Their findings, the Lewannick Project, have been published. This project allowed the CPPG to inform patients living in the more rural areas of the transport available to them to attend GP appointments.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

20/01/2015

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We undertook a planned, comprehensive inspection of Carnewater Practice on 20 January 2015. The practice provides primary medical services to people living in Bodmin and surrounding villages in Cornwall. At the time of our inspection there were approximately 11200 patients. The practice provides services to a diverse population age group and is situated in a town centre location. The practice also has a branch surgery that is open every week day in Lewannick, near Launceston. Appointments are made centrally through Carnewater but patients are able to attend either practice for an appointment.

The practice comprises of a team of six GP partners (four male and two female) and one non GP partner who is the managing partner and holds managerial and financial responsibility for running the business. In addition there are three salaried GPs, five registered nurses, six qualified dispensers and two health care assistants. A full administration team are employed to support the management of the practice.

Patients who use the practice have access to community staff including district nurses, community psychiatric nurses, health visitors, physiotherapists, mental health staff, counsellors, chiropodist and midwives.

The practice has a dispensary attached. A dispensing practice is where GPs are able to prescribe and dispense medicines directly to patients who live in a rural setting. Carnewater dispensed to patients who did not have a pharmacy within a mile radius of where they lived.

The practice is rated as good. An innovative, caring, effective, responsive and well-led service is

provided that meets the needs of the population it serves.

Our key findings were as follows:

There are systems in place to address incidents, deal with complaints and protect adults, children and other vulnerable people who use the service. Significant events are recorded and shared with multi professional agencies and there is evidence that lessons are learned and systems changed so that patient care is improved.

Patients reported having good access to appointments at the practice and liked having a named GP which improved their continuity of care. The practice was clean, organised, with facilities and equipment to consult with, examine and treat patients. There were effective infection control procedures in place.

The practice valued feedback from patients and acted upon this. Feedback from patients about their current care and treatment was consistently positive. Staff portrayed a non-discriminatory, person centred culture. Staff were motivated and inspired to offer kind and compassionate care and worked to overcome obstacles to achieving this. Views of external stakeholders were very positive and aligned with our findings.

The practice are pro-active in obtaining as much information as possible about their patients including carer status, family dynamics, dependency and any other outside influences which do or can affect their health and wellbeing. All the staff know the practice patients very well, are able to identify people in crisis and are professional and respectful when providing care and treatment.

Statistical data analysis demonstrated the practice performed comparatively with all other practices within the clinical commissioning group (CCG) area.

The practice was well-led and had a clear leadership structure in place whilst retaining a sense mutual respect and team work. There were systems in place to monitor and improve quality and identify risk and systems to manage emergencies.

In addition the provider should ensure:

The practice manager has a formal annual appraisal.

Infection control training is updated for all staff. Disposable curtains are replaced appropriately, and in accordance with national guidance.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice