AN OTLEY GP practice is celebrating achieving a Good rating from the Care Quality Commission.

Westgate Surgery received the rating following an inspection in June that also found the quality of its patient engagement activities to be 'outstanding'.

The inspectors concluded that the practice, part of OnePrimaryCare, had 'effective management and clinical leadership at a local level, which was supported at an organisational level'.

The Good rating follows a previous CQC report that said the service required improvement, and some criticism from patients - as reported in the Wharfedale & Aireborough Observer in April - about the surgery's call-handling system.

The new report from CQC, the independent regulator of healthcare services, notes that steps have been taken to address those concerns.

It says: "We saw evidence where the provider had addressed the concerns they had received relating to the central administration call handling team (CAT).

"They had closely worked with the team to improve processes and efficiencies, particularly relating to the call answer times."

It also found that the surgery, through the use of regular appraisals, staff meetings, and its What Matters to You questionnaire, had been proactive in ensuring it was running as smoothly as possible.

And it highlighted that there has been a marked rise in patient and local community engagement activities including balance and stability classes and support for carers and the bereaved.

The report states that: "The practice had significantly increased their patient and local community engagement to support patient care.

"They had facilitated an ‘open afternoon’ to listen to and understand patients’ concerns; set up a regular carers’ café and a bereavement café; attended a local event to perform health checks and provide training in basic life support.

"The practice offered weekly exercise classes and were currently in the process of developing an area behind the premises into a community garden.

"These are the sort of things which makes specific surgeries stand out from the rest."

Practice Coordinator at Westgate Surgery, Helen Quiney, said: "This latest inspection report is a real achievement and testament to the hard work of the team at Westgate.

"We will continue to work tirelessly to put patients first as the service continues to be immensely popular and valuable to the local population.

"We have been working together with the local Clinical Commissioning Group over the last few months to continue to improve the team make up in light of the earlier inspections, with a focus on increasing efficiency, which we have done through the implementation of our CAT team."