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Staff at a Reading medical practice are celebrating after scooping two top awards in the last six weeks
The University Medical Group has again been assessed as an ‘Outstanding’ practice by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and has also been voted best practice in Reading for patient satisfaction in a major survey conducted by the NHS.
Inspectors from CQC visited in June and after a full day of inspection praised the practice’s leadership and responsiveness. They were particularly impressed that the practice had continued to provide high quality care since their last visit in 2015. At the same time the number of patients registered there had increased significantly and they had merged with a second practice.
The practice, based in Northcourt Avenue, is the only ‘outstanding’ practice in Reading and one of only two across Berkshire.
The views of patients contacted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the NHS led to the University Medical Group topping the list of Reading’s practices for patient satisfaction. 94% of respondents describe their overall experience of this GP practice as good, compared to a National average of 83%.
Senior GP at the practice, Dr Elizabeth Johnston, said:
‘Patient satisfaction and the highest quality of medical care has always been the number one priority of all staff who work here and so it is really pleasing to have that recognised - not once, but twice.
“The challenge for us over the last four years was to continually improve the quality of patient care while going through a period of unprecedented growth in a very challenging environment for staff recruitment.
“In order to meet this challenge we have innovated in both the way we work and the way we recruit and have constantly put the patient experience first in any changes we have made and new staff we have recruited,” she added.
Helen Clark, Director of Primary Care from Berkshire West Clinical Commissioning Group which commissions GP services, said: “This is a great achievement for the practice and a credit to all the staff who have worked so well together to continue to provide such a first class service to their patients. It’s pleasing to see that the patients value the service they receive and have given the practice such a high satisfaction rating.”
Published 25th July 2019