Bolton General Practice rated 'outstanding' by Care Quality Commission

Bolton General Practice on Moor Lane was given the top possible ranking by healthcare regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The practice is the registered provider and provides primary care services to approximately 6,008 patients.

This is while having a practice population in the lowest decile for deprivation, meaning it is the most deprived it could be, according to Public Health England.

Miss Vicki Hoinville, Practice Manager at Bolton General Practice and Dr Jay Mylvaganam, Clinical Lead at Bolton General Practice.

In the inspection report, which was published on Wednesday after the practice was visited on March 14, the CQC highlighted several areas of outstanding practice at the GP.

The report said: "Practice champions who were members of the administrative team, for example palliative care and carers’ champions, were trained to safeguarding vulnerable adults and children level three.

“This enabled champions to have a better understanding of the needs and vulnerabilities of some patients.

“For example, the cancer champion contacted all newly diagnosed patients to ensure the patient had the systems, processes and support in place for their follow up treatment and medication.”

The CQC also saw “several examples of the practice providing outstanding care to vulnerable patients".

Bolton General Practice in the town centre.

“This included patients with a complex combination of cognitive impairment and mental health issues, who were also in the criminal justice system.

“We saw examples of practice intervention which provided detailed reports for court, which led to a positive outcome for patients, leading to no prison time and better mental ill health care for patients.”

SSP Health is the provider of primary care GP services that runs Bolton General Practice.

Founder of SSP Health, Dr Shikha Pitalia, said of the findings: "We are delighted with the result of the CQC report for Bolton Medical Centre which found the practice to be Outstanding overall once again.

"Our team works tirelessly to adopt a holistic approach to caring by addressing all the needs of our patients.

She added: "In 2017, the Practice was awarded ‘outstanding in ‘Caring and Effective’ and it’s a great achievement to have added a another star rating in ‘Well Led’ to the accolade.

"All our staff are committed to creating a patient centred culture and delivering excellent care to meet the needs of individuals.

Dr Patalia added: "The last two years during the pandemic have been hard for our patients and we did everything we could to adjust how we delivered services to meet the needs of our patients and ensure they could access care and treatment in a timely way that suited them.”