The Care Quality Commission
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Archived: Atkinson Health Centre Practice

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Atkinson Health Centre, Market Street, Barrow In Furness, Cumbria, LA14 2LR (01229) 822205

Provided and run by:
Atkinson Health Centre Practice

Important: This service is now registered at a different address - see new profile

All Inspections

6 February 2020

During an annual regulatory review

We reviewed the information available to us about Atkinson Health Centre Practice on 6 February 2020. We did not find evidence of significant changes to the quality of service being provided since the last inspection. As a result, we decided not to inspect the surgery at this time. We will continue to monitor this information about this service throughout the year and may inspect the surgery when we see evidence of potential changes.

8 July 2016

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Atkinson Health Centre Practice on 8th July 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

  • There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
  • Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
  • Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
  • Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
  • Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns.
  • Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
  • 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 management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
  • The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

  • Blinds in areas where patients have access should have loop chords secured.
  • The practice should continue to follow up all required improvements to the practice premises with the landlord.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

1 May 2014

During a routine inspection

Atkinson Health Centre Practice is situated in Barrow in Furness and provides primary medical care services to people living in and around the Barrow in Furness area. The practice provided services to 4852 patients.

The service is registered with CQC to provide the regulated activities of; Diagnostic and screening procedures; Treatment of disease, disorder and injury; Surgical procedures; Maternity and midwifery services and Family planning. 

Before the inspection we looked at a wide range of information we held about the service and information the provider sent to us. We asked other organisations such as the local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to share with us what they knew about the practice. We also asked patients prior to our visit to complete comment cards about their experiences of the service they had received. We spoke with representatives from the Patient Participation Group (PPG) and those attending for appointments during the inspection.

There were robust systems in place to help ensure patient safety through learning from incidents. Staff were aware of safeguarding procedures and the provider had responded appropriately to concerns identified. We saw that the provider had recruitment and induction processes in place to help assure the suitability of staff to care for patients.

All the people we spoke with were very positive about the care and treatment they received. We saw the results of patient surveys, which showed that people were consistently pleased with the service they received. There was good collaborative working between the practice staff and other health and social care agencies which ensured patients received the best outcomes.  

The provider regularly met with the local clinical commissioning group (CCG) to discuss service performance and improvement issues.

A range of appointments were available including telephone consultations and people could book these both in person, over the phone or on-line.

The building was well-maintained and very clean. Effective systems were in place for the oversight of medication.

Patients experienced care that was delivered by dedicated and caring staff. The provider responded to feedback from patients.

The leadership team were visible and staff we spoke with said they found them very approachable. There were good governance and risk management procedures in place.