The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

George Clare Surgery

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Swan Drive, New Road, Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, PE16 6EX (01354) 695888

Provided and run by:
George Clare Surgery

All Inspections

6 July 2023

During a monthly review of our data

We carried out a review of the data available to us about George Clare Surgery 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 George Clare Surgery, you can give feedback on this service.

22 and 29 March 2022

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at George Clare Surgery between 22 and 29 March 2022. Following this inspection, we rated the location as good overall, and for all key questions.

Safe - Good

Effective - Good

Caring - Good

Responsive - Good

Well-led - Good

The practice was previously inspected on 15 November 2016 and rated as good overall and for all key questions.

The full report for our previous inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for George Clare Surgery on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we carried out this inspection

This inspection was a comprehensive inspection. We undertook this inspection at the same time as CQC inspected a range of urgent and emergency care services in Cambridge and Peterborough. 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.

The comprehensive inspection included additional questions in relation to urgent and emergency care.

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 some staff interviews using video conferencing
  • 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 shorter site visit
  • Staff questionnaires

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 provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from harm.
  • Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
  • There was a programme of quality improvement, including clinical audit.
  • Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
  • The practice adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.
  • The practice operated effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care.

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

  • Develop a formal process for dispensary staff to have ongoing competence checks for their roles.
  • Review dispensary labelling to include a format for the blind and partially sighted.
  • Monitor and make improvements to the uptake of cervical screening and some antibiotic prescribing outcomes.
  • Monitor and make improvements to patient experience outcomes for responsive services.
  • Facilitate training for the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) lead to support them in this role.

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

15 November 2016

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at George Clare Surgery on 15 November 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.

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

  • Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses. Information about safety was recorded, monitored, appropriately reviewed and addressed.
  • 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.
  • Feedback from patients about their care was generally positive. Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and that they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
  • Data from the National GP Patient Survey published in July 2016 showed patients rated the practice in line with local and national averages for most aspects of care.
  • 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 sometimes found it difficult to get an appointment at a time convenient for them. The practice had identified that this was an area to be improved upon and proactively sought patient feedback to gain a better understanding of the issue.
  • 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 well supported by management. Monthly whole team meetings were held to ensure effective communication throughout the practice.
  • The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

  • The practice had identified a high proportion of obesity within the patient population compared to the local and national averages. We were told that lifestyle issuescreated an increased prevalence of diabetes. As a consequence of this the practice had commenced weekly diabetes specific multidisciplinary team meetings, which were attended by practice nurses, healthcare assistants, specialist community diabetic liaison nurses and the local diabetologist. The practice had seen an increasing improvement in patient involvement and attendance to health reviews.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are :

  • Ensure that patient feedback continues to be monitored to identify further areas for improvement.
  • Improve the recording of minutes of clinical meetings to evidence learning from discussion.
  • Monitor near-miss dispensing errors to detect trends and ensure appropriate actions are taken to minimise the chance of similar errors occurring again.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice