A Whitehaven GP surgery has been rated 'good' by a national health watchdog.

Queen Street Medical Practice received the rating in all areas of its work including safety, effectiveness, caring, responsiveness and leadership.

It was also deemed good when it came to dealing with older people; patients with long-term conditions; families, children and young people; working age patients; vulnerable patients and people with poor mental health.

The surgery, inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in August, had altered its registration in February 2016 to reflect the change from a partnership to a single-handed GP practice led by Dr Graham Ironside.

Professor Steve Field, CQC inspector, said the surgery responded to its patients' needs by offering home visits for older people; same day appointments for children and services such as counselling.

"There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.

"Staff had been trained to provide patients with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment,'' he said.

The report also noted patients were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.

They also found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.

Prof Field said: "The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.

"There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by the management team and the practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on."

However, the report said the practice needed to improve by continuing to put in place systems to identify risk assessments and policies which need to be updated, and keeping to the established programme of meetings for the nursing, admin and reception teams.

Mike Hunter, interim practice manager at the Queen Street surgery, said: “We are delighted to have received a good rating from the CQC. This result is recognition of the skill and dedication of our doctors, nurses, receptionist and admin staff. It’s an result they have worked really hard to achieve and it’s thoroughly deserved.

"Comments from our patients are always important and it shows we’re doing the right things when our patients use words like 'kind, helpful and considerate' to describe us."