The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has upgraded the rating of West Rainton Surgery in Houghton le Spring, County Durham, from good to outstanding following an inspection from 13 to 16 October.
West Rainton Surgery is a GP practice that delivers care to around 5,468 people.
The inspection was carried out as part of CQC’s continual checks on the safety and quality of healthcare services.
CQC has improved the rating from good to outstanding for how caring, responsive and well-led the service is. Safe and effective have been re-rated as good.
Linda Hirst, CQC deputy director of operations in the north, said:
"When we inspected West Rainton Surgery, we found a practice that puts people at the heart of everything it does. Staff treated people with kindness and respect, and were exceptional at listening and understanding people’s needs, to ensure they could access care in a way that worked for them.
"The practice had built strong relationships with its community and had developed innovative ways to support people who might otherwise struggle to access healthcare. For example, communication barriers were identified within the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community so the practice put in place plans to support them. This led to an increase in the number of people having health checks which could reduce their need for any future care and support needs.
“Also, it was great to see that survey results showed 88.6% of people felt that they had received a positive experience when contacting their GP, well above the national average of 69.6%. It was also reassuring that 86.6% of people found it easy to contact their GP practice on the phone, compared to a national average of 52.9%.
"Leaders and staff at West Rainton Surgery should be very proud of the findings of this report. Other GP practices should look to this report to see if there’s anything to learn from it.”
Inspectors found:
- The service was exceptional at making sure people were at the centre of their care and treatment choices and they decided together, how to make any necessary changes to their care.
- Staff worked well with partner organisations to ensure people had a smooth transition when moving between services.
- Leaders cared about the wellbeing of staff and supported them to deliver person-centred care. This empowered staff to do their job well, so people received a high standard of care.
- People knew how to give feedback and were confident the service would take it seriously and act on it to make any necessary improvements.