Harewood Medical Practice

On this page

• Overview
• Shared direction and culture
• Capable, compassionate and inclusive leaders
• Freedom to speak up
• Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion
• Governance, management and sustainability
• Partnerships and communities
• Learning, improvement and innovation

We looked for evidence that service leadership, management and governance assured high-quality, person-centred care; supported learning and innovation; and promoted an open, fair culture

At our last assessment, we rated this key question as good. At this assessment, the rating remains the same.

This service scored 79 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Harewood Medical Practice had a shared vision, strategy, and culture. This was based on transparency, equity, equality and human rights, diversity and inclusion, engagement, and understanding challenges and the needs of people and their communities.

Although not all staff who provided feedback to CQC stated that they had been involved in the development of the strategy, most stated that the practice had a clear vision for the future. Most staff also stated that they liked working for the practice and that there was a good atmosphere.

All staff stated that there was a positive culture with one commenting that they had “seen this grow and grow just in my time here - we have some really talented staff working for us and it’s about developing this.”

Harewood Medical Practice had inclusive leaders at all levels who understood the context in which they delivered care, treatment, and support.

Leaders had the skills, knowledge, experience, and credibility to lead effectively. They did so with integrity, openness, and honesty. They embodied the culture and values of their workforce and organisation.

Staff told us leaders in the practice were approachable and responded to any concerns raised. Staff also told us that they felt listened to and were able to speak up.

We saw the leadership team worked with other practices in the primary care network and were engaged in the development of primary care services within the local area, including the new Catterick Integrated Care Centre.

Harewood Medical Practice fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard.

It had established Freedom to Speak up (FTSU) arrangements with other practices in the primary care network and staff confirmed in feedback to CQC that they were aware of how to raise concerns, and how to contact the FTSU guardian.

Harewood Medical Practice valued diversity in its workforce. It worked towards an inclusive and fair culture by improving equality and equity for the people who worked there.

Policies and procedures were in place to promote diversity and equality.

Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Human Rights training was mandatory for all staff, and all staff had completed it.

The practice was a member of the government’s Disability Confident scheme and currently sits at Level 1 – Disability Confident Committed. This scheme is designed to help employers recruit, retain and develop disabled people and being at Level 1 means that the practice had committed to five key elements, including ensuring an inclusive and accessible recruitment process, making reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, and supporting any existing employee who acquires a disability or long-term health condition to enable them to stay in work.

Harewood Medical Centre had clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability and good governance. It used these to manage and deliver good quality, sustainable care, treatment, and support. It also acted on the best information about risk, performance, and outcomes, and shared this securely with others when appropriate.

Leaders and managers supported staff, and staff we spoke with were clear on their individual roles and responsibilities. Managers met with staff regularly to complete appraisals and performance reviews.

Staff took patient confidentiality and information security seriously.

The practice had established governance processes that were appropriate for their service and staff could easily access policies and procedures.

Managers held regular practice meetings with staff, during which they discussed clinical concerns and emerging risks. Managers clearly recorded any actions arising from these meetings and ensured they shared these with appropriate staff members.

Senior leaders from Harewood Medical Practice also attended Heartbeat Alliance board meetings on a regular basis which allowed them to provide assurances that the practice was providing safe and effective services for their patients. It also provided an opportunity to raise challenges and concerns and to give feedback and ideas for improvement.

The Executive Director of Heartbeat often worked within the practice and attended both senior operational and whole practice meetings, thereby ensuring that they were visible and that staff had a direct link to the board for any concerns or suggestions they wanted to share.

Harewood Medical Practice clearly understood their duty to collaborate and work in partnership, so services worked seamlessly for people. It shared information and learning with partners and collaborated for improvement.

For example, the practice worked with other practices within their primary care network to offer extended access, flu and covid vaccination programmes.

They also collaborated closely with colleagues from the Ministry of Defence and met with the local garrison’s medical team on a fortnightly basis to identify areas where they could work together more effectively. This collaboration had resulted in the practice starting pheno testing (a test that measures the level of nitric oxide in your breath and helps diagnose asthma) for the garrison who did not have the appropriate testing facilities.

In addition, the practice was part of pilot project within their Primary Care Network and worked with 3 local surgeries to look at PSIRF information and identify any themes or outcomes from patient complaints. PSIRF (the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework) sets out the NHS’s approach to developing and maintaining effective systems and processes for responding to patient safety incidents for the purpose of learning and improving safety.

Harewood Medical Practice focused on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across the organisation and local system. It encouraged creative ways of delivering equality of experience, outcome, and quality of life for people.

For example, thanks to investment from their Integrated Care Board, the practice had recently installed a “Patient POD,” an electronic healthcare system designed to improve appointment capacity, enhance patient care delivery, and improve health outcomes.

The POD measures and records blood pressure, pulse rate, weight, height and body mass index and the information it produces is then reviewed by a clinician, with all findings being automatically recorded in a patient’s records. Patients do not need an appointment to use the POD and, if a clinician needs to follow up on the results with a patient, a member of the practice team will contact the patient directly.

At the time of our assessment, the practice were also supporting a GP Registrar with their training through the Northallerton GP scheme, part of the Yorkshire and Humber training programme. From August 2026 they will also have an additional GP registrar working in an Integrated Training Post, 2 days a week.