A doctor’s surgery in March has been deemed ‘good’ in all areas after an inspection.

The Riverside Practice’s services are safe, effective, caring, responsive to people’s needs and well-led according to a report by the Care Quality Commission.

The report rates the practice as ‘good’ in terms of caring for different types of people, including: “older people, people with long-term conditions, families, children and young people, recently retired people and students, people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable and people experiencing poor mental health (including those with dementia)”.

In the report Steve Field, chief inspector of general practice, states a number of areas with ‘good’ practice.

He said: “There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events

“Risks to patients were assessed and well managed; staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance.

“Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.

“Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment

“Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns.

“Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.

“The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs

“There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on

“The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.”

The report also details a number of areas of ‘outstanding’ practice. It states “the practice facilitated a health trainer and actively promoted their role to patients.

“The trainer provided a range of services to promote a healthier life style. These included chair based exercises for less mobile patients, a walking group and shopping trips to advise patients on healthy eating.

“The practice referred all pre-diabetic patients identified to the health trainer with an aim to reduce the onset of diabetes.”

An area in which the provider could improve is to “continue to encourage patients to attend national screening programmes such as bowel and breast screening” and “continue to investigate ways to improve telephone access to the practice for patients”.

Riverside Practice is run by three male GP partners and employs two female advanced nurse practitioners, three practice nurses, one phlebotomist and two female health care assistants.

The clinical team is supported by a practice manager and a team of administrative, secretarial and reception staff.

The inspection was carried out on October 14 and the report was published on December 9.