This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection 13 January 2015 – Good)

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? - Good

As part of our inspection process, we also look at the quality of care for specific population groups. The population groups are rated as:

Older People – Good

People with long-term conditions – Good

Families, children and young people – Good

Working age people (including those recently retired and students – Good

People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable – Good

People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia) - Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Westover Surgery on 6 March 20018 as part of our planned inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

• The practice had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes.
• The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.
• The practice had successfully employed its business continuity plan during the recent adverse winter weather conditions which included heavy snow. Patient feedback was positive about the practice response to the winter weather.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

Westover Surgery was inspected on Wednesday 13 January 2015. This was a comprehensive inspection. Overall, we rated this practice as good.

Westover Surgery provides primary medical services to people living in Falmouth and the surrounding areas. The practice provides services to a homogenous population with a diverse range of age groups. Westover Surgery is situated in a residential location in the seaside town of Falmouth. The main practice is at Westover Surgery, Western Terrace, Falmouth, Kernow TR11 4QJ and the branch surgery is at Wood Lane, Woodlane Branch Surgery, Trelawney Road, Falmouth TR11 3GP. We visited the main practice at Westover Surgery during our inspection.

At the time of our inspection there were approximately 8,300 patients registered at the service with a team of five GP partners and one salaried GP. GP partners held managerial and financial responsibility for running the business. In addition there was a practice manager, and additional administrative and reception staff.

Patients who use the practice have access to community staff including district nurses, community psychiatric nurses, health visitors, physiotherapists, mental health staff, counsellors, chiropodist and midwives.

Westover Surgery is a General Medical Services practice.

Our key findings were as follows:

We rated this practice as good. Patients reported having good access to appointments at the practice and liked having a named GP which improved their continuity of care. The practice was clean, well-organised, had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients. There were effective infection control procedures in place.

The practice valued feedback from patients and acted upon this. Feedback from patients about their care and treatment was consistently positive. We observed a patient centred culture. Staff were motivated and inspired to offer kind and compassionate care and worked to overcome obstacles to achieving this. Views of external stakeholders were positive and were aligned with our findings.

The practice was well-led and had a clear leadership structure in place whilst retaining a sense of mutual respect and team work. There were systems in place to monitor and improve quality and identify risk and systems to manage emergencies.

Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered in line with current legislation. This included assessment of a patient’s mental capacity to make an informed decision about their care and treatment, and the promotion of good health.

Suitable staff recruitment, pre-employment checks, induction and appraisal processes were in place and had been carried out. Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and further training needs had been identified and planned.

Information received about the practice prior to and during the inspection demonstrated the practice performed comparatively with all other practices within the clinical commissioning group (CCG) area.

Patients told us they felt safe in the hands of the staff and felt confident in clinical decisions made. There were effective safeguarding procedures in place.

Significant events, complaints and incidents were investigated and discussed. Learning from these events was communicated and acted upon.

Some practice staff were dementia friends, so knew more about how they could help people with the condition.

There were areas of practice where the provider needed to make improvements.

The provider should:

• Improve the access to the premises so that it is easily accessible for people using wheelchairs or prams.

• Implement systems to, improve communication with patients who may have sensory problems such as hearing loss or partial sight, or have cognitive impairment.
• A practice evacuation drill should be carried out on an annual basis to ensure staff and patient safety in the event of an emergency.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice