Bicester GP practice to exit special measures following significant improvements

Published: 9 December 2015 Page last updated: 12 May 2022
Categories
Media

England’s Chief Inspector of General Practice has taken a Bicester GP practice out of special measures following improvements in the quality of its services.

Langford Medical Practice on Nightingale Place, Bicester in Oxfordshire was rated Inadequate under the Care Quality Commission's new approach to the inspection of GP practices following an inspection in February 2015, and was placed into special measures.

When CQC inspected Langford Medical Practice in February 2015, it was rated Inadequate for being safe and well-led, Requires Improvement for being effective and Good for being caring and responsive to people’s needs.

In the latest inspection from October 2015, a specialist team of inspectors found that the practice had improved in all five key areas. The overall rating for the practice has moved from Inadequate to Good. The practice was rated as Good for providing services that were safe, effective, caring, responsive, and well led.

Inspectors rated the practice Good for providing services to older people, people with long term conditions, families, children and young people, people of working age, people experiencing poor mental health and providing service to people whose circumstances make them vulnerable.

A copy of the report from this latest inspection has been published on this website today.

Professor Steve Field, Chief Inspector of General Practice, said:

"It is clear that Langford Medical Practice has made improvements since our original inspection when we had serious concerns relating to the safe delivery of services and the leadership of the practice.

"The practice has been able to make significant improvements, and is now providing an accessible, safe and clinically effective service.

“I am pleased to announce that Langford Medical Practice will come out of special measures and I congratulate them on the progress that they have made so far.

“We will return in due course to ensure improvements are sustained.”

Ruth Rankine, Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice for the South of England, said:

“When we inspected the practice in October 2015 we found improvements had been made in all areas. There was an open and transparent approach to reporting significant events and the practice was developing a strong learning culture.

“Action had been taken to address gaps in staff training and ensure that staff were supported.

“Progress had also been made to strengthen governance arrangements, however further work is needed in this area to fully embed the changes and make better use of patient feedback to drive continued improvements”

Inspectors found during the inspection in October the practice had made significant improvements since our last inspection in February 2015 and that they were meeting all of the regulations which had previously been breached.

Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidelines. Patients spoke positively about the practice and told inspectors that staff were helpful and treated them with dignity and respect.

Staff had received appropriate training and further training needs had been identified and planned for.

All the partners, staff and members of the Patient Participation Group worked hard to undertake a complete review of the service since the previous inspection and make sustainable improvements

Ends

For further information, please contact John Scott, Regional Engagement Manager on 077898 75809. Journalists wishing to speak to the press office outside of office hours can find out how to contact the team here. Please note: the press office is unable to advise members of the public on health or social care matters. For general enquiries, please call 03000 61 61.

Find out more

Read our reports on Langford Medical Practice.

We found improvements had been made in all areas.

Ruth Rankine, Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice for the South of England

About the Care Quality Commission

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England.

We make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and we encourage care services to improve.

We monitor, inspect and regulate services to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety and we publish what we find to help people choose care.