We carried out a review of the data available to us about Spring Terrace Health Centre on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Spring Terrace Health Centre, you can give feedback on this service.
We carried out a short notice announced inspection at Spring Terrace Health Centre on 1, 3 and 15 August 2022. Overall, the practice is rated as Good.
The key question ratings were:
Safe - Good
Effective - Good
Well-led - Good
Following our previous inspection on 13 July 2017, 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 Spring Terrace Health Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk
Why we carried out this inspection
This was a focused inspection to respond to risk and follow up on concerns that were raised with us. These concerns related to the ancillary service provided by Northumberland Primary Care Limited (the provider of Spring Terrace Health Centre) to a number of GP practices locally. The ancillary service was provided by pharmacy hub teams co-located within GP practices, including Spring Terrace Health Centre.
We inspected three key questions - Is the practice safe, effective and well led as part of our methodology to carry out more focused inspections for those practices rated as good overall. All other ratings were carried forward from the July 2017 inspection.
The focus of this inspection was to:
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:
Our findings
We based our judgement of the quality of care at this service on a combination of:
We have rated this practice as Good overall
We found that:
At the last CQC inspection in July 2017, we said the practice should take action to reduce exception reporting for those clinical indicators where their performance on Quality and Outcomes framework areas (QOF) was below the England average. Since the last CQC inspection, we have changed the way we regulate GP practices. We no longer routinely use QOF to check on the clinical performance of the practice. The practice showed us the governance processes in place to check on progress with clinical indicators and benchmark themselves with other practices locally.
We also said they should continue to take steps to improve patient telephone access and appointment availability. We spoke with the practice about the steps they have taken to improve access within the practice. They told us they had implemented a quality improvement plan in this area. This had included analysing data from the telephone system to target areas for improvement, such as peak times for inbound calls and deploying additional staff at these times to answer calls. Across the local primary care network (PCN) there was a plan to recruit a specialist in children’s mental health to improve support for these patients.
Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:
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
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Spring Terrace Health Centre on 13 July 2017. 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 for reporting and recording significant events.
Risks to patients and staff were assessed and well managed.
Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. They had the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
The provider was taking action to improve access, following feedback from some patients that they experienced difficulties getting through to the practice by telephone and obtaining an appointment.
All staff were actively engaged in monitoring and improving quality and patient outcomes. They were highly committed to supporting patients to live healthier lives through a targeted and proactive approach to health promotion.
Services were tailored to meet the needs of individual people and were delivered in a way that provided flexibility, choice and continuity of care.
Information about how to complain was available and easy to understand.
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 well supported by the management team. Effective governance arrangements were in place, which focussed on delivering good quality care.
There was a clear vision and strategy for the development of the practice and staff were committed to providing their patients with good quality care and treatment.
However, there were also areas where the provider should make improvements. The provider should:
Where appropriate, take action to reduce exception reporting rates for those clinical indicators where their QOF performance was below the England average.
Continue to take steps to improve patient telephone access, and appointment availability.
Chief Inspector of General Practice