Bowburn Medical Centre

Updated 18 January 2023

Bowburn Medical Centre is located in Bowburn, Durham at:

Bowburn Medical Centre

Bow Street

Bowburn

Durham

DH6 5AL

The provider also runs sites under a separate contract at:

Belmont Surgery

Broomside Lane

Belmont

Durham

DH1 2QW

Sherburn Surgery

Gray Avenue

Sherburn

Durham

DH6 1JE

The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the Regulated Activities; diagnostic and screening procedures, maternity and midwifery services, family planning, treatment of disease, disorder or injury and surgical procedures.

The practice is situated within the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) and delivers General Medical Services (GMS) to a patient population of about 4200. This is part of a contract held with NHS England.

The practice scores 6 on the deprivation measurement scale: the deprivation scale goes from 1 to 10, with 1 being the most deprived. People living in more deprived areas tend to have a greater need for health services.

There is a team of 3 GP’s (1 female and 2 male) who also work at other sites as part of a separate registration. The practice has a team of 3 advanced nurse practioners (female) and 3 practice nurses (female) who are supported by a team of nurse associates and health care assistants. The clinical staff are supported by a practice manager and assistant manager and a team of administration staff. The practice did not currently have a registered manager in place however they were in the process of applying to have one.

The practice is open between 8.30am to 6pm Monday to Friday. The practice offers a range of appointment types including book on the day, telephone and video consultations and advance appointments.

Extended access is provided by a different provider, where late evening and weekend appointments are available. Out of hours services are provided by NHS 111.

The practice is part of a wider network of GP practices known as Durham East Primary Care Network (PCN) which is made up with four other practices.

Updated 18 January 2023

We carried out an announced focused inspection at Bowburn Medical Centre on 1 – 7 December 2022. Overall, the practice is rated as good.

Safe - Good

Effective - Good

Caring - Not inspected, rating of good carried forward from previous inspection

Responsive - Not inspected, rating of good carried forward from previous inspection

Well-led - Good

Following our previous inspection on 21 May 2019, the practice was rated good overall and for all key questions.

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

Why we carried out this inspection

We carried out this inspection due to concerns about the practice, including the fact that it did not have a registered manager in place.

How we carried out the inspection

This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site.

This included:

• Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing.
• Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system (this was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements).
• Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider.
• Requesting evidence from the provider.
• A short site visit.

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:

• 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.
• Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
• The practice had embedded systems in place to keep people safe and safeguarded from abuse.
• The senior management and leadership team ensured effective management at all levels to deliver high quality sustainable care.
• The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.

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

• Continue progressing with the registration of a registered manager.
• Improve the quality of medicine reviews.
• Improve the coverage of patients having cervical cancer screening.

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 Hospitals and Interim Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services