The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

Haydon Bridge and Allendale Medical Group

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

North Bank, Haydon Bridge, Hexham, Northumberland, NE47 6LA

Provided and run by:
Northumbria Primary Care Limited

All Inspections

6 July 2023

During a monthly review of our data

We carried out a review of the data available to us about Haydon Bridge and Allendale Medical Group 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 Haydon Bridge and Allendale Medical Group, you can give feedback on this service.

1 February 2020

During an annual regulatory review

We reviewed the information available to us about Haydon Bridge and Allendale Medical Group on 1 February 2020. We did not find evidence of significant changes to the quality of service being provided since the last inspection. As a result, we decided not to inspect the surgery at this time. We will continue to monitor this information about this service throughout the year and may inspect the surgery when we see evidence of potential changes.

29 April 2019

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out an announced focused inspection at Haydon Bridge and Allendale Medical Practice, on 29 April 2019. This was part of our ongoing inspection programme, but we also wanted to check the practice had made the improvements we said they should, when we last inspected the practice in September 2018.

At the last inspection, on September 2018, we rated the practice as requires improvement for providing safe services and issued a requirement notice because:

  • The provider did not have an effective system in place for monitoring the prescribing of high-risk medicines.
  • The arrangements for maintaining the ‘cold-chain’ for vaccines stored at the practice were not effective.

At this inspection, we found that the provider had satisfactorily addressed these areas. However, they should improve the consistency of recording refrigeration temperatures at the branch surgery.

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 rated this practice as good overall. (Previous rating September 2018 – Good).

We rated the practice as good for providing safe services because:

  • The practice had improved the way they monitored the health of patients prescribed high-risk medicines.
  • They had improved their systems for maintaining the ‘cold-chain’ for vaccines stored at the practice. (The cold-chain is a system of storing and transporting vaccines at the recommended temperature, from the point of manufacture to the point of use.)

At our previous inspection, we identified there were areas where the provider should make improvements. During this inspection we found the provider had addressed most of the improvements we asked them to make. The provider had:

  • Taken action to familiarise staff with the practice’s business continuity plan and business continuity arrangements.
  • Introduced a planned schedule of clinical audit and quality improvement activity, for 2019/2020.
  • Devised a protocol and a recording tool, to improve their arrangements for monitoring the contents of the doctors’ home visit bags.
  • Reviewed the stock of emergency medicines they held at both sites to reflect best practice guidance. They had also improved the way these were stored, accessed and monitored. An appropriate range of emergency medicines were available and reflected the provider’s assessment of what they needed.
  • Advertised the availability of pre-bookable, extended access appointments as part of the Hadrian Extra Care Hub arrangements.

The provider had chosen not to maintain an in-house record of staff’s immunity status, as this was an activity carried out by their parent body, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. (Please refer to our evidence table.)

However, there were also areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements. Importantly, the provider should:

  • Record the temperature of the vaccine refrigerators twice daily, as stipulated in the provider’s policy, and should consistently record what action is taken if the temperature of a refrigerator operates outside of the recommended temperature range.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care

06 Sept to 06 Sept

During a routine inspection

This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous rating under old provider July 2015 – Good)

The key questions at this inspection are rated as:

Are services safe? – Requires improvement

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? - Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Haydon Bridge and Allendale Medical Practice on 6 September 2018 as part of our current inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

  • The practice had some systems in place to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. However, they were not following best practice guidance or their own policy in relation to ensure the cold chain was maintained for medicines requiring refrigeration and needed to strengthen their arrangements for monitoring patients prescribed high risk medicines.
  • The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
  • Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
  • Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
  • There was a focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.

There was an area where the provider must make improvements as they are in breach of regulations. They must:

  • Ensure that care and treatment is being provided in a safe way by doing all that is reasonably practicable to mitigate risks to the health and safety of service users.

There were areas where the provider should make improvements. The provider should:

  • Review the arrangements for monitoring the stock and expiry dates of emergency medicines in GP bags and consider holding the full range of emergency medicines recommended by best practice guidance.
  • Introduce a schedule of planned clinical audit and quality improvement activity.
  • Familiarise all staff with the practice business continuity plan and business continuity arrangements.
  • Maintain a record in-house of staff immunity status
  • Advertise the availability of pre-bookable extended access appointments as part of the Hadrian Extra Care Hub arrangements.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Please refer to the detailed report and the evidence tables for further information.