Spotlight on London’s outstanding GP practices: Dysart Surgery

The care provided to patients by the staff at the Dysart Surgery in Bromley was rated as ‘outstanding’ in an inspection report published by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in July 2015.

What makes the care at Dysart Surgery outstanding?

The quality of services at this practice was judged across five different areas: whether it is safe, effective, caring, responsive to people’s needs, and well-led. Services were found to be either good or outstanding in each of these areas by CQC’s team of trained inspectors.

Along with providing high quality care as standard to its 8,000 patients, the practice was found to go above and beyond expectations — taking care to an outstanding level:

· Dysart surgery was found to be particularly responsive to the needs of its patients. Care for older people, people with long term conditions, people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable, and families, children and young people was found to be excellent.

· The practice was quick to act on feedback from patients. It introduced Saturday morning nurse appointments to improve cervical screening uptake, made changes to the premises to improve privacy in the reception area, and increased promotion about the range of practice and online services available.

· The practice was found to support the non-medical needs of its patients — by participating in projects such as the ‘Happiness project’ and the ‘Carers project’, designed to address isolation and support needs and improve wellbeing.

· It also engaged with the local community and presented health promotion sessions at local schools. Every year the GPs visit primary schools to talk about different aspects of being a doctor and to support them in meeting the curriculum requirements. The aim of the visits is also to allay fears about going to the doctors, and to provide health promotion to the children, such as the importance of exercising and eating well.

· In addition to this, Dysart Surgery was found to offer a special rapid access service to young people referred from a local agency offering free therapeutic support to young people between the ages of 0 -18 years.

· Patients with long term conditions were encouraged to see their usual GP so that they received continuity of care. For those people with the most complex needs, the named GP worked with relevant health and care professionals to deliver a multidisciplinary package of care.

Dysart Surgery is one of 14 practices to be rated as outstanding in London to date.

You can find out more about how Dysart Surgery delivers its outstanding care here.