Dudley medical practice rated 'outstanding' by inspectors for second time

Inspectors have rated a Dudley medical practice as ‘outstanding’ for the second time.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC)’s rating came after Eve Hill Medical Practice, Himley Road, was visited by inspectors in May.

The practice, which is run by an organisation of the same name, delivers GP services to people under a contract held with NHS England. CQC carried out this inspection as part of its continual monitoring of services.

Inspectors found that Eve Hill was committed to providing inclusive, responsive care by reducing barriers to access and maintaining high-quality facilities that met diverse needs.

They also noted that people were encouraged to provide feedback, which was valued and used to improve services, while incidents were thoroughly investigated to strengthen safety, an effective appointment system ensured timely access for urgent needs and that leaders worked collaboratively with the local community and partners to develop services that reflected changing population needs, while also prioritising staff wellbeing, training and professional development, creating a supportive culture where staff felt valued and empowered to deliver outstanding care.

Overall, the CQC has rated Eve Hill Medical Practice as outstanding for safety, up from good. Its effectiveness, caring and and leadership have also been re-rated as outstanding. The rating for how responsive the service is remains as good.

Andy Brand, CQC’s deputy director of primary care and community services for the West Midlands, said: “When we inspected Eve Hill Medical Practice, we found an exceptional service with a deeply embedded culture of learning, openness and continuous improvement.

“Staff treated people with kindness and involved them in assessments of their needs, ensuring that information was communicated in a clear, accessible and meaningful way. This collaborative and person-centred approach meant people’s care was personalised to them, with staff taking time to understand people as individuals and supporting them to make informed choices.

“This collaborative approach extended throughout the service, with staff using people’s feedback, alongside training and data, to continually refine and improve their approach to reduce health and care inequalities.

“Leaders were actively committed to promoting people’s dignity and signed up to the Dignity in Care initiative, with two staff members trained to lead, promote and embed best practice throughout the service. Staff also demonstrated a compassionate and proactive approach to supporting people following bereavement, including the introduction of a dedicated baby loss support letter which provided timely, empathetic and sensitive communication to people.

“It was clear that leaders had created an environment in which staff felt fully empowered and supported to raise concerns and contribute to innovation throughout the service. During our inspection, staff consistently demonstrated a strong awareness of potential risks to people’s health and had a highly proactive and systematic approach to managing them to keep people safe. This included actively supporting national priorities to improve people’s health, offering advice and referrals on issues such as stopping smoking and tackling obesity.

“Overall, staff and leaders should be incredibly proud of the culture they have created to ensure people get the very best care outcomes and certainly deserve the hugely positive feedback we received from people.”

The practice has been contacted for a comment.