An NHS trust which runs a GP surgery in Ellesmere Port has hailed the outcome of an inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) watchdog.

The CQC rated the town’s Westminster Surgery at 12-18 Church Parade as ‘Good’.

A number of positives were noted down by Prof Steve Field, the CQC’s chief inspector of general practice.

The practice is the first to be run by the Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (CWP) which took over the surgery in July 2015.

The trust said: “The CQC was pleased to report that our services were planned and delivered to take into account the needs of different patient groups.

“Coinciding with this they also highlighted the surgery’s regular debt and housing advice drop-in sessions as a tremendous positive to users of the surgery.

The Westminster GP practice in Ellesmere Port which has doubled in size thanks to an NHS project to provide more surgeries and waiting space. Pic provided by NHS

“Among other positives noted were acknowledgements of the systems in place at the surgery to avoid risks to patient safety.

“In particular they noted how equipment checks were carried out, there were systems to reduce the risk of infections and to keep the premises clean.

“The inspectors also highlighted how our staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, report incidents and near misses.

“Staff were aware of procedures for safeguarding patients from the risk of abuse.

“On top of this they also highlighted the surgery’s excellent work in monitoring the access to the service so that they could ensure that the needs of different patients were met.”

The CQC also praised the vision and strategy of the trust and how it related to the surgery.

“They said: “CWP had a clear vision which was ‘to bring about service transformation by working in partnership to improve health and well-being by providing high-quality care’.

“It also had six clear values which underpinned its objective to provide person-centred care. These were care, communication, courage, competence, compassion and commitment.

“The vision and values were displayed for patients to refer to and staff spoken with were familiar with the vision, values and objectives of CWP.”

Nick Thompson, business manager at the surgery said he was ‘delighted with the news’.

“The findings of this CQC inspection are the result of the tremendous hard work carried out by the dedicated team we have here at the surgery.

“In addition to the positive report that we have received, the CQC have also indicated some areas in which we can improve. We look forward to acting in these areas to continue to develop our services.”

CWP medical director for compliance, quality and assurance, Anushta Sivananthan, said: “On behalf of Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, I would like to congratulate our dedicated team at Westminster surgery for receiving a ‘Good’ rating by the CQC.

“We know that the local team, supported by the wider services of CWP, have put in a great deal of hard work and commitment. I am particularly pleased to see that the CQC highlighted our values, including person-centred care, as one of the many positive points they had to make about the surgery.”

The surgery saw a major extension by the NHS in 2016 doubling the size of the practice.