England’s Chief Inspector of General Practice has rated a GP surgery in Worthing as Outstanding following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Inspectors rated the services provided by The St Lawrence Surgery, Worthing, West Sussex as Outstanding for being responsive and well led, while rating it Good for being safe, effective and caring. A full report of the inspection in August 2016 has been published today.
The report highlights a number of areas of outstanding practice, including employing a practice care co-ordinator who had an essential role as a liaison between the practice, patients and external agencies. This meant that members of the multi-disciplinary team (MDT), safeguarding teams, palliative care teams, pro-active care teams and carers all had a single contact point within the practice which ensured that patients had seamless care.
The practice worked very closely with the patient participation group (PPG) and considered them an important part of the practice team. The practice ran walking, singing and weight management groups in conjunction with the PPG in order to promote patient well-being. They also formed a self-care forum that led their self-help initiative producing a variety of self-care leaflets and devoting an area in the waiting room to self-care advice. The PPG chair was involved in the recruitment and selection of new GPs and sat on the interview panel. The PPG also helped organise an annual health promotion day for patients and regular evening educational events.
Ruth Rankine, Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice, said:
"We found that The St Lawrence Surgery is providing an excellent service, particularly in working with other organisations and the local community to ensure that they met patients’ needs
“I was particularly impressed with practice’s work to ensure a clear vision which had quality and safety as its top priority and the strategy to deliver this vision developed in conjunction with the patient participation group.
“The surgery staff have demonstrated a real commitment to their patients.
“All of this hard work and dedication pays off in making a real difference– which is why we have found this practice to be Outstanding.”
Professor Steve Field, Chief Inspector of General Practice, said:
“I am delighted to highlight the exceptional standard of care which is being provided at The St Lawrence Surgery.
"Throughout the inspection we were particularly impressed by the way the practice worked with the public to shape its service to meet the needs of its patient groups.
"The GPs and all their staff deserve the credit for this Outstanding service."
Ends
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We were particularly impressed by the way the practice worked with the public to shape its service to meet the needs of its patient groups.
Professor Steve Field, Chief Inspector of General Practice