Scarborough GP practice celebrates its turnaround to ‘Good’ status

Central Healthcare, now part of the Haxby Group, has been rated as “Good” in all areas after the latest inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The practice runs Lawrence House Medical Centre off Falsgrave Road and Peasholm Surgery on Tennyson Avenue.

In early 2020 it was told it could face closure if it did not improve following an “Inadequate” rating by the CQC.

Later that year, Central Healthcare partnered with Haxby Group, which has practices in York and Hull and would provide support and mentoring to help Central Healthcare develop future resilience and improve services for its patients.

After another CQC inspection in October 2020 its rating was raised to “Requires Improvement” and it was taken out of special measures.

Now, following the latest CQC inspection in November 2021, Central Healthcare – now Haxby Scarborough – is celebrating its “Good” status.

Dr Alistair Crosswaite, GP Partner, said: “The team at Central Healthcare (now Haxby Group) is thoroughly delighted with the recent report from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) which has rated us ‘Good’ in all areas.

“Since our last visit from the CQC, we’ve been working round the clock to tackle all the things which needed to improve. This new report confirms we’ve made great progress in an incredibly short period, during an exceedingly challenging time for everyone.

“This success is purely down to the efforts of every single individual at this practice and we are extremely proud of our great team.

“Our partnership with Haxby Group and the commitment of all our teams working together has supported this tremendous improvement. It was pleasing to see the CQC particularly note the way the practice was led and managed, saying this ‘promoted the delivery of high quality, person-centred care’.

“As we continue to invest in the practice, the people of Scarborough will see us grow and improve further as we aim to make this an outstanding practice.”

In specific areas , Dr Crosswaite added: Digital improvements “This year we’ve upgraded our telephone system so patients do not have to wait so long to get through. Our new

internet-based phone system is already reducing phone waiting times for patients.

“We’ve also installed a new digital consultation system.”

Staff improvements

“The CQC noted that staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care. They also confirmed we had improved the support of staff and supervision offered to clinical staff.

“We’ve been retraining and training staff so they can be more confident in their work and better support for patients. And we have an ongoing recruitment campaign to bring more administrators, clinicians and healthcare professionals to the practice.”

Surgery improvements

"We’ve carried out a huge refurbishment of our Lawrence House surgery, updating our clinical rooms on all floors of the building. This year we will focus on refurbishing the outside of the building too."

NHS North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) Accountable Officer, Amanda Bloor, said: “We recognise the tremendous effort that has gone into implementing improvements at Central Healthcare. This has taken a lot of hard work by staff.”