The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

Parkway Medical Group

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Chapel House Primary Care Centre, Hillhead Parkway, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE5 1LJ (0191) 267 1773

Provided and run by:
Parkway Medical Group

All Inspections

15 June 2023

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out an announced focused inspection at Parkway Medical Group on 8 and 15 June 2023. Overall, the practice is rated as Good.

Safe - Good

Effective - Good

Caring – Not inspected, rating of Good carried over from previous inspection.

Responsive - Good

Well-led – Good

Following our previous inspection on 3 December 2021, the practice was rated requires improvement overall and for the key questions of safe, effective, responsive, and well-led. The practice was rated as good for caring.

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

Why we carried out this inspection

We carried out this inspection to follow up a breach of regulation from a previous inspection and in line with our inspection priorities due to the previous overall rating being requires improvement. We followed up on a previous breach relating to good governance.

How we carried out the inspection/review

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.
  • 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.
  • The practice had significantly improved their governance around safeguarding systems and processes.
  • Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
  • The practice had made improvements to monitoring and reviewing patients with long-term conditions and those receiving repeat medications.
  • Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
  • The practice had an efficient and effective appointments system which meant patients could easily access care and treatment in a timely way that was convenient for them.
  • Governance structures were now fully embedded. The provider had a wider oversight of the running of the practice as a result.
  • The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.

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

03 December 2021

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced, comprehensive, responsive inspection at Parkway Medical Group on 3 December 2021. Overall, the practice is rated as Requires Improvement.

The ratings for each key question are:

Safe - Requires Improvement

Effective - Requires Improvement

Caring - Good

Responsive – Requires Improvement

Well-led - Requires Improvement

Following our previous inspection on 27 October 2015, 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 Parkway Medical Group on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we carried out this inspection

This inspection was a responsive, comprehensive inspection to follow up on information of concern we received from the public. The inspection covered all the key questions, safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

How we carried out the inspection

Throughout the pandemic CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, taking into account the circumstances arising as a result of the pandemic, and in order to reduce risk, we have conducted our inspections differently.

This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site. This was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements.

This included:

  • Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing.
  • Speaking to patients.
  • Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system and discussing findings with the provider.
  • 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 have rated this practice as Requires Improvement

We found that:

  • The practice had a significant shortage in staff, including GPs, which impacted on its ability to provide safe care. This included staff who were self-isolating due to the COVID-19 pandemic and those that had left the service.
  • We found evidence that some issues affecting patients had not been actioned following safety alerts. We found evidence of missed diagnoses of some patients with chronic kidney disease.
  • Patients mainly received effective care and treatment that met their needs, although there was a backlog of patients waiting for a review of their care with no action plan in place to address this in some cases.
  • The practice had received numerous complaints from patients about the lack of appointments and staff morale was low.
  • The practice adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, patients struggled to access care and treatment in a timely way. The practice had recently attempted to address this by introducing a new appointment system in December 2021, which did not rely upon telephone triage as the first contact.
  • Systems, processes and governance arrangements were not always in place and if they were, were not always effective resulting in the issues identified.

Following the inspection, the practice provided us with an action plan to address all areas of concern identified, including some actions that had already been completed. This was a work in progress and as the practice is rated as Requires Improvement, it will be re-inspected in the future to check the improvements needed are made and embedded.

We found one breach of regulations. The provider must:

  • Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care.

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

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care

27 October 2015

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Parkway Medical Group on 27 October 2015. 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 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.
  • Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and that 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.

We saw some area of outstanding practice:

  • On the National GP Patient Survey, the practice consistently scored higher than the national and local averages across a number of areas, such as ease of access to the service, patient care and overall experience. For example, 96.6% of patients described their overall experience as good (compared to 86.3% locally and 84.8% nationally) and 96% of respondents would recommend this surgery to someone new to the area. This compared to the clinical commissioning group (CCG) average of 79% and the national average of 78%.

  • The practice supported staff to take a reflective approach to staff training, to ensure the value of training was realised and it had an impact on the way staff delivered the service. Throughout the year the staff completed a reflective learning log where they documented the training they had completed, what their key learning points were and how this might change the way they do their job. Managers discussed this with staff at appraisal sessions.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice