- GP practice
Cheddar Medical Centre
Assessment report published 21 August 2026
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of Assessment: 16 June 2026. Cheddar Medical Centre is a GP practice and delivers services to approximately 8,500 people under a contract held with NHS England. According to the latest available data, the ethnic make-up of the service area is approximately 97% White, 1% Asian, 1% Mixed, 1% Black and Other. Information published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities shows deprivation within the service population group is in the 9th decile (9 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.
Staff kept facilities clean and maintained equipment appropriately to ensure people were kept safe. However, the service did not manage fire safety risks consistently. The service assessed the risk of infection and had processes in place to control the risk of it spreading. However, these processes were not always effective in the management of water safety; sharps bins for disposal of used needles; carpet cleaning; and evidence of staff vaccinations. There were enough staff with the right skills, qualifications and experience. However, the service had not completed all the required pre-employment checks when recruiting staff.
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 discrimination and inequality that could disadvantage groups of people who used the service and sought ways to address any barriers.
The service had a 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 governance processes. However, these processes were not always effective or consistently followed. There was no oversight to ensure delegated tasks had been completed and risks had not always been identified and addressed.
We identified a breach of regulations relating to good governance. We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.
People's experience of this service
As part of our assessment, we reviewed feedback available to us from people who used the service to understand their views and experience of the service. People were positive about the quality of their care and treatment. They described how staff treated them with kindness and compassion and respected their privacy. This was mirrored in the results of recent surveys, including the 2025 National GP Patient Survey, which showed most people were satisfied. Since the assessment, the 2026 National GP Patient Survey results have been published. The new data suggests responders’ overall experience of the service has improved from 79% saying it was good in 2025 to 84% in 2026.
Over 100 people had shown interest in the patient participation group (PPG), a group of people who represented the views of people using the service. The last meeting was held in November 2025 and was attended by approximately 15 people who were able to share their views of the service. The service said they planned for these meeting to take place every 3 months moving forwards but another meeting had not yet taken place.
We asked the service to share a link with people so they could share their feedback with CQC, but we did not receive an increase in feedback.