Enter and view: Captain French Surgery

Healthwatch Westmorland and Furness conducted an announced Enter and View visit to Captain French Surgery on 31 March 2026 to gather feedback from patients and staff and assess the practice environment. During the visit, representatives spoke with 16 patients and 5 members of staff. 

Captain French Surgery serves a diverse patient population, including families, working-age adults, older people, care home residents, and people living with long-term health conditions. The practice employs a wide multidisciplinary team and works closely with the Kendal Integrated Care Community and other local health services. The surgery is particularly proud of its frailty and care home teams, bereavement counselling service, support for children and young people, and its role as a training practice for future healthcare professionals. 

Healthwatch found the practice to be clean, modern, welcoming and generally accessible. The building has step-free access, automatic doors, disabled parking, wide corridors and good public transport links. Reception staff were observed to be friendly, professional and proactive in supporting patients, including those with mobility needs. The practice also provides private spaces for confidential conversations and quieter waiting areas for patients who may need them. 

Patient feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Most patients reported that appointment booking was efficient and that urgent concerns were dealt with promptly. Many praised the quality of care they received, describing staff as caring, attentive and approachable. Patients with long-term conditions particularly valued continuity of care and being able to see clinicians who knew them well. 

Communication was generally viewed positively, with patients appreciating appointment reminders and clear explanations from staff. However, some patients experienced difficulties with telephone access, disliked having to answer triage questions, or found digital systems challenging to use. Several people expressed a preference for speaking directly with staff rather than using online services. Some patients also noted difficulties in communication between hospitals and GP services. 

The premises were highly regarded, with patients praising the cleanliness, spacious waiting areas and overall environment. Nevertheless, some accessibility issues were identified. These included difficulty reading waiting room display screens, glare affecting some signage, limited colour contrast in accessible toilets, and opportunities to improve dementia-friendly features such as clearer signage and clocks displaying the day and date.

Healthwatch also found that awareness of the formal feedback and complaints process was limited. Many patients were unsure how to raise concerns or provide feedback, and none of those interviewed were aware of the feedback box located in the waiting area.

Overall, the report concluded that Captain French Surgery is a highly regarded, patient-centred practice with strong performance in staff professionalism, responsiveness, quality of care and patient support. While patient experiences were largely very positive, the report identified opportunities to improve communication about appointments, accessibility of waiting room displays, dementia-friendly adaptations, visibility of feedback processes and the availability of seating at different heights.

Key recommendations included:

1. Providing clearer information about appointment purpose and clinician details.
2. Improving the visibility and accessibility of waiting room display screens.
3. Introducing further dementia-friendly adaptations, including better signage, improved colour contrast and clocks showing the day and date.
4. Making information about complaints and feedback processes more visible.
5. Offering seating at a range of heights to better support patients with mobility needs.