Thornaby and Barwick Medical Group

We carried out an announced focussed inspection at Thornaby and Barwick Medical Group on 20 October 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 28 May 2015, the practice was rated as good overall and in all five key questions. This was the practice’s only previous inspection.

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

Why we carried out this inspection

We carried out this inspection as part of our programme of inspecting services rated Good or Outstanding that have not been inspected for over 5 years. We need assurance that Good or Outstanding rated locations are still good or outstanding.

This was a focused inspection which included the key questions of safe, effective and well-led, as well as some additional questions around access.

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 site visit.
• Staff questionnaires

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.
• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and learning from incidents.
• Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
• Patients had access to a network of specialist services through a social prescribing link team.
• Staff were appropriately trained to carry out their roles.
• Staff maintained the necessary skills and competence to support the needs of patients.
• 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 way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.
• Staff were able to access advice and mental health services through an employee assistance programme. There was a mindfulness area within the practice for staff to spend quiet time in, and access to stress awareness training.

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

• Continue to explore options to increase call answering capacity at peak times.

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