A well-performing GP practice in North London, serving more than 11,000 patients across two sites, wanted to embed CQC readiness at the heart of its strategy and operational culture. At Scale worked alongside the practice to assess its position against the CQC quality statements, strengthen evidence and governance, and develop a comprehensive improvement plan that would take PCN and emerging neighbourhood working into account.
The Backdrop
The practice is an established and respected provider of primary care services within North London. The team had worked hard on the clinical requirements and wanted to focus on assessing organisational evidence, with a focus on ensuring that policies and procedures are understood across the wider practice staff, underpinning the culture and service ethos.
The leadership team recognised that expectations from regulators, integrated care systems and neighbourhood partnerships continue to evolve. Practices must demonstrate not only excellent clinical care but also strong governance, evidence and continual learning.
The partners wanted to take a proactive and structured approach to CQC readiness, working with the At Scale team to carve out the time and consider where best to direct their attention.
What we did
At Scale applied our CQC Readiness Tool to assess the practice against the CQC domains and associated evidence requirements.
The structured process included a detailed RAG-rated compliance review, assessment of policies and governance arrangements, review and organisation of supporting evidence, and identification of existing strengths and examples of good practice.
Throughout the engagement we worked closely with practice leaders and staff, providing hands-on support, mentoring and challenge. This helped translate the CQC framework into practical actions embedded within the daily running of the practice.
Outcomes
The engagement resulted in a comprehensive improvement plan with clearly defined ownership, realistic timescales, and measurable success indicators. This provided the practice with a structured roadmap for strengthening assurance and maintaining inspection readiness.
The work also ensured that CQC preparedness was aligned with the practice’s wider neighbourhood ambitions, supporting a sustainable framework for quality assurance, collaboration, and long-term service development.
”At Scale’s approach was precisely what we needed, and their team worked closely with us to help understand exactly where we stood against current CQC requirements. We took confidence from knowing how to present our strengths and have been able quickly identify the areas that need further work. This saved us time and provided the level of external challenge that we needed. It was useful to identify where we can strengthen our PCN policies and have consistent evidence across our network practices.
GP Partner
