News / Health
Check out your GP on watchdog website
A healthcare regulator has published details of every GP surgery in England in an attempt to make their decisions over which surgeries to inspect more transparent.
The ‘intelligent monitoring’ of surgeries by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is made up of surveys and statistics on patient experience, care and treatment.
The analysis of more than 7,200 practices reveals that almost eight out of 10 surgeries in England appear to be of low concern. Almost 3,800 are in the lowest category.
In Bristol, more than 50 GP surgery details have been released on the online map. The details show that most are of little risk to patients.
In some though, certain areas have been flagged as a risk by the CQC.
At the Hassell Drive surgery in Easton, for example, too small a number of women being offered cervical screening has been recorded, as have the number of smokers registered with the practice being offered smoking cessation support.
Meanwhile, in leafier areas such as the Pembroke Road surgery in Clifton, the CQC found a number of risk areas, including the ability of patients to get an appointment with their GP or nurse.
Professor Steve Field, Chief Inspector of General Practice, said: “There is a lot of good and outstanding care taking place across the country as our data and recent reports show.
“It is important to remember that the data is not a judgement as it is only when we inspect we can determine if a practice provides safe, high-quality and compassionate care. “The data is a further tool that will help us to decide where to inspect and when.”
Dr Charles Alessi, Co-chairman of the National Association of Primary Care, added: “We welcome the emphasis on transparency and quality in the new inspection regime for General Practice.
“The fact that outstanding practice has already been identified is very encouraging and we looking forward to working closely with CQC to further develop models of monitoring to both lessen the burden of inspection and enrich the experience on the practices.”
You can search for the report of your local GP on the CQC website.
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