OKEHAMPTON Medical Centre has been given a ‘good’ rating by the Care Quality Commission — but has been told that it must ensure there is proper and safe management of its medicines.

The medical centre, which had an inspection on November 13, 2018, was rated good for effectiveness, care, responsiveness and leadership, though it was rated as ‘requiring improvement’ in the safety category.

Practice manager Kiran Bakhshi said: ‘We are pleased that CQC have acknowledged some of the challenges that we have faced as well as the improvements that we have made since the last inspection.

‘The CQC report recognises the value that we place upon: involving patients in their decision-making and treating them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect, encouraging and responding to patient feedback, engaging with patients and the wider community, improving access for vulnerable members of the community, such as farmers, continuous learning and improvement throughout the practice and investment in clinical and admin staff training.

‘We have recruited and trained a wide range of highly skilled, experienced and qualified clinical staff — including nurse prescribers and a paramedic — to increase patient access to a wide range of services.

‘We are also a GP training practice and host medical, nurse and paramedic students on placements. In 2018 we were named medium employer of the year by Education and Skills Training, a local vocational training provider, for our commitment to administrative staff training and development

‘The report has also helped us to prioritise and focus on making significant and sustained improvements in the areas identified as requiring further action and we will continue to strive to deliver the highest level of care possible to our patients.’

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