Queenstree Practice

Updated 9 January 2023

Queenstree Practice is located in Billingham at:

The Health Centre

Queensway

Billingham

Cleveland

TS23 2LA

The practice is located in Billingham Health Centre, Billingham and provides primary medical care services to patients living in the surrounding areas of Billingham. The practice is based on the ground floor and shares the premises with a health centre and other healthcare professionals. It offers on-site parking, disabled parking, a disabled WC, wheelchair and step-free access. The practice provides services to around 4,100 patients of all ages based on a General Medical Services (GMS) contract agreement for general practice.

The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the Regulated Activities; diagnostic and screening procedures, surgical procedures, family planning and treatment of disease, disorder or injury. The provider is not currently registered for the regulated activity of maternity and midwifery services. As per the “Update to the GP contract agreement 2020/21 - 2023/24” dated 6 February 2020 https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/update-to-the-gp-contract-agreement-v2-updated.pdf (page 38, points 6.15 to 6.17) the provider is required to deliver several maternity medical services, including a maternal check at 6 - 8 weeks after birth.

Therefore, the provider needs to add the Regulated Activity of Maternity and Midwifery services to their registration.

The proportion of the practice population in the 65 years and over age group is slightly higher than the Integrated Care Board (ICB) average and higher than the England average. The practice population in the under 18 years age group is slightly lower than the ICB and England average for males. The practice scored five on the deprivation measurement scale; the deprivation scale goes from one to ten, with one being the most deprived. People living in more deprived areas tend to have greater need for health services.

All management, staff and clinicians work as a multi-disciplinary team. The team consist of 3 GP partners all of which are male. There are 3 practice nurses, 1 of which is a trainee nurse associate all of which are female, 1 health care assistant who is female, a practice manager and a reception manager, medical secretaries and a central administration team. The provider is part of Billingham and Norton Primary Care Network (PCN). PCNs are partnerships of practices working together and with other local health and care providers, where patients can access additional evening and weekend appointments.

The practice is open between 8.00am to 6pm Monday to Friday. Appointments are available from 8.35am to 11am every morning and 1.30pm to 6pm every afternoon.

Updated 9 January 2023

We carried out an announced inspection at Queenstree Practice on 14/15 and 30 November 2022. Overall, the practice is rated as Good.

The ratings for each key question are:

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 4 February 2016, 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 Queenstree Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Why we carried out this inspection

This inspection was a focused inspection carried out in line with our inspection priorities.

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
• 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
• 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 have rated this practice as Good overall.

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 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.
• 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:

• Improve processes so that staff who require Disclose and Barring Service (DBS) checks receive or update them when required.
• Improve processes so that all structured medication reviews are completed at appropriate intervals in line with national guidance.
• Seek ways of introducing a Patient Participation Group (PPG) to encourage patient feedback and involvement.

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