The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has upgraded the overall rating of Leylands Medical Centre, from requires improvement to outstanding following an inspection from 16 to 19 March.
The practice, based in Heaton, Bradford, delivers care to around 18,735 people across three sites.
CQC carried out the inspection to follow up on progress since the last inspection, when a breach of regulation was found in relation to safe care and treatment.
CQC found the practice had made significant improvements at this recent inspection and is no longer in breach of regulation.
CQC has upgraded the rating for being effective from requires improvement to outstanding. Well-led has improved from good to outstanding. Safe and responsive have been upgraded from requires improvement to good. The rating for caring remains good.
Linda Hirst, CQC deputy director of operations in the north-east, said:
“When we inspected Leylands Medical Centre, we found a practice that had undergone an impressive transformation, and one that’s clearly driven by a leadership team with a strong sense of purpose and a real commitment to the people it serves.
“Leaders had created a culture where innovation and improvement were an important part of everyday working life. They’d invested in new ways of working which made a real difference to people. For example, a redesigned triage system now means that clinicians have all the information they need, including previous GP appointments and details of pre-existing health conditions, so they can carry out thorough assessments on people.
“The practice has also done exceptional work to tackle health inequalities in what is one of the more deprived communities in England. Leaders recognised that conditions like Type 2 diabetes and undiagnosed high blood pressure were affecting their local population. Therefore, the practice had taken a number of steps to raise awareness of these conditions. Such as holding a diabetes prevention awareness day at the practice, to help improve people’s health outcomes.
“The whole team at Leylands Medical Centre should be proud of what they’ve achieved. This is exactly the kind of practice other services across the country should look to as an example of what outstanding, person-centred care looks like.”
Inspectors also found:
- Leaders implemented a targeted programme to improve cervical screening uptake, expanding nurse capacity and introducing a new recall system. As a result, completed cervical screening procedures increased by 44% within six months, significantly improving access to potentially life-saving screening for women across the local community.
- The practice always supported people to manage their health and wellbeing to fully maximise their independence, choice and control. This included expanding NHS health checks to help prevent their health deteriorating.
- The practice redesigned how results from NHS health checks were provided to people, to make it easier for them to understand. This involved transferring information into a user friendly PDF document which could be sent to people’s mobile phones. It explained information more clearly, and also highlighted relevant outstanding vaccination and cancer screening options.
- The practice identified that there was reduced availability of in-person British Sign Language interpreters to help support people. In order to address this, the practice used an electronic device to deliver remote support during appointments. This improved flexibility, reduced barriers to access and enabled people to receive care in a more timely way.