The Care Quality Commission has found the quality of care provided by Sleights and Sandsend Medical Practice, Whitby to be Outstanding following an inspection carried out in October 2016.
Inspectors rated the practice as Outstanding for caring and responsiveness and Good for safety, effectiveness and well-led. A full report of the inspection has been published.
The Sleights and Sandsend Medical Practice is a rural practice situated in Sleights, Whitby, North Yorkshire. The practice covers the area bounded by Staithes, Robin Hood’s Bay and Goathland. There are 5,156 patients on the practice list, it has a dispensing practice and the practice has four GP partners and one salaried GP.
The inspection team found there was a genuinely open culture in which all safety concerns raised by staff were highly valued. Staff were open and transparent and the practice worked closely with other organisations and with the local community in planning how services were provided to ensure that they meet patients’ needs.
CQC’s Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice in the North, Alison Holbourn says:
“The Sleights and Sandsend Medical Practice was doing some outstanding and innovative work, I was particularly impressed with initiatives that were helping to reduce the number of GP appointments and the work they were doing in local care homes.
“The satisfaction ratings for the practice were very good. 95% of patients thought the reception staff did a good job and 100% said they had confidence in the last GP they saw. The needs of patients were taken into account, such as adopting a flexible appointment system – patients could ask for a face-to-face consultation or a telephone consultation, whatever suited.
“It was evident that the practice adopted high standards, these were promoted and owned by all practice staff. In addition, teams worked together across all roles. There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported.
“In each of the 6 population groups that we assess against we rated the Sleights and Sandsend Medical Practice as Outstanding. I congratulate them on their achievement.”
The inspection team noted a number of outstanding areas of care including:
- The practice funded a weekly psychotherapy service. They provided numerous case studies demonstrating reduced GP consultations, more appropriate use of healthcare services and reduced levels of medication.
- An advanced nurse practitioner visited weekly all seven care homes in the local area to provide training and advice to staff. This had led to an 80% reduction in home visit requests from care homes and a reduction of 30% in all home visits.
Ends
For media enquiries, David Fryer 07754 438750, or call the CQC press office on 020 7448 9401 during office hours or out of hours on 07917 232 143. For general enquiries, call 03000 61 61 61.
I was particularly impressed with initiatives that were helping to reduce the number of GP appointments and the work they were doing in local care homes.
Alison Holbourn, Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice in the North