Updated 24 March 2026
Date of Assessment: 21 August 2026 to 3 September 2026. Thornton Lodge Surgery is a GP practice and operates from 60 Thornton Lodge Road, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, HD1 3SB. The practice is situated in the West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board area and provides personal medical services to around 2,900 patients. Information published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, rates the level of deprivation within the practice population as 1 on a scale of 1 to 10. The lower the decile, the more deprived it is relative to others. The National General Practice Profiles state that the ethnic make-up of the practice area is 48.3% Asian, 38.6% White, 5.1% Black, 3.8% Mixed and 4.2% Other. The assessment considered the demographics of the people using the service, the context the service was working within and how this impacted service delivery. Where relevant, further commentary is provided in the quality statements section of this report.
This focused assessment was prompted by a previous assessment which was undertaken in 2025, following which the provider location was rated as requires improvement for the key question of Safe. In addition, during this same assessment the provider location was found to be in breach of Regulation 12 Safe care and treatment, of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. This assessment examined all quality statements within the key questions of Safe and Effective, and the Governance, management and sustainabilityquality statement within Well-led.The provider had a good learning culture and people could raise concerns. Managers investigated incidents thoroughly. People were protected and kept safe from abuse. There was an existing backlog of incoming patient records which needed processing, which although reduced since the last inspection was still significant. The facilities and equipment met the needs of people, were clean and well-maintained and any risks mitigated. There were enough staff with the right skills, qualifications and experience, although we found that the provider did not have full assurance regarding the vaccination and immunisation status of staff. Managers made sure staff received training and regular appraisals to maintain high-quality care. Overall staff managed medicines well and involved people in planning any changes. However, we identified an issue related to record keeping and clinical decision making linked to remote prescribing for asthma exacerbations.
Patients were involved in assessments of their needs. Staff reviewed assessments taking account of people’s communication, personal and health needs. There were instances of care when it was not based on latest evidence and good practice. Staff worked with all agencies involved in people’s care for the best outcomes and smooth transitions when moving services. Staff made sure people understood their care and treatment to enable them to give informed consent. Staff involved those important to people took decisions in people’s best interests where they did not have capacity. Cancer screening programme and child immunisation performance required continued work, although it was noted that the provider worked within the community to encourage participation.
The provider had clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability and overall had good governance practices and processes in place. However, the provider had not fully complied with the breach of regulations identified during their previous assessment undertaken in 2025.
During this assessment we found that only a limited number of concerns highlighted within the previous breach of regulation had been addressed, as well as identifying some new concerns linked to clinical decision making and prescribing. As a result, the provider is in breach of Regulation 17 Good governance of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found during this assessment.