A GP surgery in Royton has been rated 'good' across the board by the health watchdog, despite complaints, while the council vows to improve it further.

The Royton and Crompton Family Practice, situated in the Royton Health and Wellbeing Centre on Park Street, was visited by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in September.

The watchdog rated the surgery, in a report published last week, as 'good' overall.

The five categories the CQC inspects are centred around safety, effectiveness, levels of care, responsiveness and leadership.

Commenting on the standards at the practice, the watchdog said it saw how the surgery "cared for patients in a way that kept them safe and protected them from avoidable harm", including in its rigorous safeguarding practices.

Patients receive "effective care and treatment" while staff treat patients with "kindness and respect", the inspector Dr Sean O’Kelly wrote.

The report also revealed how the practice adapted to the challenges brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, noting how patients were still able to access care and treatment "in a timely way".

Dr O'Kelly concluded: "The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centred care."

The CQC's 'good' rating comes as Royton's second GP surgery, Royton Medical Centre, was told it 'requires improvement' by the inspectorate in the same month.

Following the damning report, Oldham Council and local leaders have vowed to patch up both the GP surgeries in Royton, despite Royton and Crompton Family Practice receiving a good verdict.

READ MORE: Leaders express commitment to improve GP services after complaints

The CQC has also given the Royton and Crompton Family Practice, which is managed by Dr Andrew William Vance, areas of improvement.

This includes putting in a new process and audit system to monitor high-risk medicines, identify patients who are overdue for checks and catch up on its "backlog" of medication reviews.

The CQC also said it must check the records of patients with potential missed diagnoses of diabetes to ensure appropriate appointments, such as eye screening tests, are made and provide emergency steroid cards to patients prescribed more than three courses of oral steroids in the last 12 months.

Reflecting on the overall verdict, a spokesperson for the surgery said: "During the pandemic, the practice has provided care to around 22,000 NHS patients in the local area.  

"Our staff have stepped up and gone above and beyond their roles and duties to maintain the service despite challenges and additional pressures such as the covid vaccine rollout.

"It is with testimony to the ongoing commitment of our staff that the practice has recently maintained its 'good' CQC rating which demonstrates that patient care is safe, responsive, effective, caring and well-led.

"We are greatly encouraged by our “good” CQC rating and intend to build upon this with our staff and patients to further improve the services we offer.”