• Doctor
  • GP practice

The Summerhill Surgery

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

The Surgery, Summerhill, Kingswinford, West Midlands, DY6 9JG (01384) 273275

Provided and run by:
The Summerhill Surgery

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

Date of Assessment: 29 May to 3 June 2025. The Summerhill Surgery is a GP practice and delivers service to 7314 patients under a contract held with NHS England. Information published by Office for Health Improvement and Disparities shows deprivation within the practice population group is in the 7th decile (7 of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice population is relative to others. 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.

SAFE: The service had a good learning culture and people could raise concerns. Managers investigated incidents thoroughly. People were protected and kept safe. Staff understood and managed risks. The facilities and equipment met the needs of people, were clean and maintained. There were enough staff with the right skills, qualifications and experience. Managers made sure staff received training and regular appraisals to maintain high-quality care. Staff managed medicines well and involved people in planning any changes.

EFFECTIVE: People were involved in assessments of their needs. Staff reviewed assessments taking account of people’s communication, personal and health needs. Care was based on latest evidence and good practice. Staff worked with all agencies involved in people’s care for the best outcomes and smooth transitions when moving services. Staff made sure people understood their care and treatment to enable them to give informed consent. Staff involved key individuals in making decisions in the best interests of people who lacked capacity.

CARING: People were treated with kindness and compassion. Staff protected their privacy and dignity. They treated them as individuals and supported their preferences. People had choice in their care and treatment. The service supported staff wellbeing.

RESPONSIVE: People were involved in decisions about their care. The service provided information people could understand. People knew how to give feedback and were confident the service took it seriously and acted on it. The service was easy to access and worked to eliminate discrimination. People received fair and equal care and treatment. The service worked to reduce health and care inequalities through training and feedback. People were involved in planning their care and understood options around choosing to withdraw or not receive care.

WELL-LED: Leaders and staff had a shared vision and culture based on listening, learning and trust. Leaders were visible, knowledgeable and supportive, helping staff develop in their roles. Staff felt supported to give feedback and were treated equally, free from bullying or harassment. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities. Managers worked with the local community to deliver the best possible care and were receptive to new ideas. There was a culture of continuous improvement with staff given time and resources to try new ideas.

17 November 2016

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection visit of The Summerhill Surgery, in September 2015. As a result of our comprehensive inspection breaches of legal requirements were found and the practice was rated as requires improvements for providing safe services. This was because we identified an area where the provider must make improvement and an area where the provider should improve.

We carried out a focussed desk based inspection of The Summerhill Surgery on 17 November 2016 to check that the provider had made improvements. This report only covers our findings in relation to those requirements. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for The Summerhill Surgery on our website at www.cqc.org.uk. Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

  • Since our comprehensive inspection in September 2015, the practice had introduced a more formal programme of practice meetings. Minutes of meetings highlighted that shared learning took place throughout the practice. This included learning as a result of significant events, incidents and complaints.
  • When we inspected the practice during September 2015 we found that the practice had not formally assessed the risk in the absence of disclosure and barring (DBS) checks for non-clinical staff that chaperoned. As part of our desk based inspection we saw evidence to demonstrate that DBS checks had since been completed for the four non-clinical members of staff who chaperoned. We also saw records to support that staff received appraisals.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

30 September 2015

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Summerhill Surgery on 30 September 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

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

  • Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
  • Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance.
  • The practice held an intermediate care contract and provided GP services to approximately 50 nursing homes across the area. The practice had a dedicated nursing home team who worked within the nursing home division of the practice.
  • Risks to patients were assessed and well managed, with the exception of risk assessments in the absence of disclosure and barring checks (DBS checks) for staff that chaperoned.
  • Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses. Information about safety was recorded, monitored, reviewed and addressed.
  • Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and any further training needs had been identified and planned.
  • There was evidence of appraisals and personal development plans for staff, with the exception of one member of the nursing team.
  • 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 practice had good facilities and was equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.

However there were areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.

Importantly the provider must:

  • Ensure risk assessments are in place to assess the risk of not having disclosure and barring checks (DBS) for staff who chaperone.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are :

  • Ensure staff performance and training needs are identified and documented for all members of the nursing team through a programme of annual appraisals.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice