Peterborough's Thistlemoor Road Surgery is rated outstanding by health regulator

A surgery in Peterborough has been declared outstanding by an independent health regulator.

The Thistlemoor Road Surgery, in Lincoln Road, which cares for about 29,500 patients, has been praised by the Care Quality Commission after carrying out improvements the regulator had requested following a previous inspection.

In addition to being rated outstanding overall following the latest inspection in March, the surgery has been rated outstanding for being responsive to people’s needs and well-led.

It has been rated good for being safe, effective and caring.

At the earlier inspection in February the surgery, which has 15 GPs, 10 nurses plus 20 health care assistants and five clinical pharmacists, had been rated good overall but was told it required improvement for being safe.

The surgery serves an area that is recognised as being more deprived than the national average with a diverse population with the majority of patients coming from eastern European countries such as Poland, Lithuania, Russia and the Czech Republic. These patients total more than 80 per cent of the practice population.

Andy Brand, CQC head of inspection, said: “We were very impressed by the quality of care and treatment provided to people at Thistlemoor Road Surgery.

"In addition to being safe, it was delivered with kindness and respect.

“The service had addressed issues we previously found needed improvement, and it was now meeting high standards across all areas of its work.

“We were particularly impressed by how it planned care and treatment for local people’s specific needs.

"This included tailoring its approach to the transient nature of the local population and the large number of patients without English as a first language.

Mr Brand added: “We also found innovative use of healthcare assistants to support GPs’ work.

"This helped the practice deliver more effective and timely care, and improved patient access.

“An outstanding rating is the result of considerable hard work, so I congratulate the practice’s staff for all they have achieved for their patients.”

These were the CQC’s key findings:

A radical model for the role of healthcare assistants had been developed at the surgery. This was safe, effective and well-liked by patients, and used as an example of best practice by other organisations involved in primary medical care.Care and treatment were targeted specifically to the needs of the patient population, rather than by headcount. This was particularly effective at providing good outcomes for the high number of transient local people.Patient care was safe, effective and protected people from avoidable harm.Staff dealt with patients kindly, respecting and involving them in decisions about their care.As 80 per cent of the practice’s patients did not have English as a first language, and staff sought to use people’s preferred language where possible. This also helped patients have full involvement in decisions about their care.Staff successfully supported the COVID-19 response, including by encouraging vaccination uptake.Leaders had an inspiring and shared purpose which motivated staff to succeed. This led to high staff satisfaction, which empowered them to provide good patient care.