The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has found the quality of care provided by the College Surgery Partnership in Cullompton, Devon to be Outstanding following an inspection carried out in August 2015.
Inspectors rated the practice as Outstanding for providing responsive and well led services, and Good for providing services that are safe, caring and effective. The practice has received an overall rating of Outstanding.
A full report of the inspection has been published here.
Under CQC's new programme of inspections, all England's GP practices are being given a rating according to whether they are safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led.
Professor Steve Field, Chief Inspector of General Practice said:
"This is one of the most innovative surgeries in the country. It is embedded in the local community with inspirational leadership. I am delighted that the team has found it Outstanding."
Ruth Rankine, Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice in the South, said:
"It is clear College Surgery Partnership is providing a well led and highly responsive service which is a real asset to the people living in this part of Devon.
"I was particularly impressed with practice's proactive work to initiate positive service improvements for patients. We found that staff demonstrated a sound understanding of the differing needs of their patients and acted on these needs in the planning and delivery of its services.
"The GPs and staff at College Surgery Partnership have demonstrated a real commitment to their patients.
"All of this hard work and dedication pays off in making a real difference for their patients – which is why we have found this practice to be Outstanding."
The report on College Surgery Partnership highlighted a number of areas of outstanding practice, including:
The practice had reached out to the local community by supporting people who were vulnerable by facilitating a walking group, vegetable growing at the practice and 'knit and natter' a social group held at the café on site, this increased wellbeing amongst patients who said they really enjoyed taking part.
The practice has an extremely engaged and active patient participation group (PPG) with over 200 members participating remotely, as well as regular face to face engagement. We saw examples of the PPG being able to influence practice behaviour to benefit patients, for example by continually campaigning to keep the branch surgeries open. They also organised health promotion events.
The practice was fully committed to working in partnership with the other stakeholders and has recently been part of a two year research project led by the University of Westminster with the aim of improving the health outcomes for those patients with Type 2 Diabetes and those at risk of developing Diabetes. The project, led by the health facilitator, showed clear evidence of health gains for diabetics with reduced HbA1c (a blood test which showed lowered blood sugar levels) reduced weight and waist measurements. This was undertaken over nine months and involved 124 patients. This evidence has led NHS England to sponsor the health facilitator for more work in this area.
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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 reports on the College Surgery Partnership.