The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

Chainbridge Medical Partnership

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Shibdon Road, Blaydon on Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE21 5AE (0191) 499 0965

Provided and run by:
Chainbridge Medical Partnership

Important: This service was previously registered at a different address - see old profile

All Inspections

30 November 2023

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out a targeted assessment of Chainbridge Medical Partnership in relation to the responsive key question. This assessment was carried out on 30 November 2023 without a site visit. Overall, the practice is rated as Good. We rated the key question of responsive as Good.

Safe - Good

Effective – Good

Caring - Good

Responsive – Good

Well-led – Good

The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for the Chainbridge Medical Partnership on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we carried out this review.

We carried out this assessment as part of our work to understand how practices are working to try to meet demand for access and to better understand the experiences of people who use services and providers.

We recognise the work that GP practices have been engaged in to continue to provide safe, quality care to the people they serve. We know colleagues are doing this while demand for general practice remains exceptionally high, with more appointments being provided than ever. In this challenging context, access to general practice remains a concern for people. Our strategy makes a commitment to deliver regulation driven by people’s needs and experiences of care. These assessments of the responsive key question include looking at what practices are doing innovatively to improve patient access to primary care and sharing this information to drive improvement.

How we carried out the assessment

This assessment was carried remotely.

This included:

  • Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing.
  • Requesting evidence from the provider.

Our findings

We based our judgement of the quality of care at this service on a combination of:

  • what we found when we inspected
  • information from our ongoing monitoring of data about services and
  • information from the provider, patients, the public and other organisations.

We found that:

  • Patients were satisfied with the appointments offered by the practice. This was reflected in the National GP survey.
  • Feedback we received from patients regarding appointments and access was mostly positive.
  • The practice understood the needs of its local population.
  • The practice had an active Patient Participation Group.
  • The practice dealt with complaints in a timely manner and learned from them.

Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

Chief Inspector of Health Care

15 Jan to 15 Jan

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Chainbridge Medical Partnership on 15 January 2019 as part of our inspection programme.

At the last inspection in January 2015 we rated the practice as good overall and as good for delivering safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led services. However, it was rated as outstanding for the population group relating to people experiencing poor mental health because:

  • The practice Quality Outcomes Framework (QOF) attainment in relation to ensuring patients with a mental health condition were higher than local and national averages.
  • They had a higher than average attainment in ensuring patients with a mental health condition had a comprehensive care plan.

We have based our judgement of the quality of care at this service on a combination of:

  • what we found when we inspected
  • information from our ongoing monitoring of data about services and
  • information from the provider, patients, the public and other organisations.

We have rated this practice as good overall and good for all population groups with the exception of the population group relating to people with long term conditions which has been rated as outstanding.

We found that:

  • The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
  • Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
  • Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
  • The practice organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
  • The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.

We saw several areas of outstanding practice including:

  • The practice cared for and monitored 91% of their diabetic patients in-house without the need for secondary care intervention which included an insulin initiation service. As they had felt that QOF attainment in relation to diabetes could improve the practice had introduced a monthly audit system to ensure diabetic patients were receiving appropriate and regular monitoring. The practice also held a monthly diabetes meeting and six weekly meetings with diabetic consultants and specialist nurses.
  • They had an effective system in place to monitor patients prescribed high-risk medicines. They had a programme of weekly, monthly and quarterly medicine searches to ensure patients were receiving appropriate monitoring.
  • The practice had a comprehensive and effective programme of meaningful clinical audit activity which could demonstrate improvements to patient care and outcomes. This was of particular benefit to patients with long term conditions on regular medication.
  • They had developed a ‘patient notes safety system’ which helped to ensure that vulnerable patients were not missing monitoring, health or medication reviews or missing appointments. This was checked daily by either the practice manager or assistant practice manager.
  • The practice regularly employed apprentices as part of their non-clinical staffing team and supported them with training and in obtaining National Vocational Skills Qualifications. Several of their apprentices had either became permanent members of staff or progressed to posts or advanced qualifications in the health care sector. The practice had been recognised by the National Skills Academy for their work in supporting apprentices

Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:

  • Establish a patient’s participation group and seek members views in relation to the future running and development of the practice.

Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice

20 January 2015

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out a planned comprehensive inspection of Chainbridge Medical Partnership on 20 January 2015.

Overall, we rated the practice as good. We found the practice to be good for providing safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led services. Our key findings were as follows:

• The services had been designed to meet the needs of the local population.

• Feedback from patients was positive; they told us staff treated them with respect and kindness.

• The practice was visibly clean and tidy.

• The practice learned from incidents and took action to prevent any recurrence.

• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The practice actively sought feedback from patients

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice