The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

The Eston Surgery

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Low Grange Health Village, Middlesbrough, Cleveland, TS6 6TD (01642) 511567

Provided and run by:
Dr Paul Chatterjee

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

Date of Assessment: 23 April 2025. The Eston Surgery is a GP practice and delivers service to 3,798 patients under a contract held with NHS England. The National General Practice Profiles states that 96% of the population served by this practice are white, less than 2% are Asian and of mixed ethnicity, and less than 1% are black or another ethnicity. Information published by Office for Health Improvement and Disparities shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the 1st decile (1 of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice population is relative to others. This 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.

There were enough staff with the right skills, qualifications and experience. Managers made sure staff received training and regular appraisals to maintain high-quality care. Staff managed emergency medicines well.

People were involved in decisions about their care. The service provided information people could understand. People knew how to give feedback and were confident the service took it seriously and acted on it. The service was accessible and worked to eliminate discrimination. People received fair and equal care and treatment. The service worked to reduce health and care inequalities through training and feedback. People were involved in planning their care and understood options around choosing to withdraw or not receive care.

14 December 2023

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out a targeted assessment of The Eston Surgery in relation to the responsive key question. This assessment was carried out on 14 December 2023 without a site visit. Overall, the practice is rated as Good. We rated the key question of responsive as Requires improvement.

Safe - Good

Effective – Good

Caring - Good

Responsive – Requires improvement

Well-led – Good

The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for the

The Eston Surgery on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we carried out this review

We carried out this assessment as part of our work to understand how practices are working to try to meet demand for access and to better understand the experiences of people who use services and providers.

We recognise the work that GP practices have been engaged in to continue to provide safe, quality care to the people they serve. We know colleagues are doing this while demand for general practice remains exceptionally high, with more appointments being provided than ever. In this challenging context, access to general practice remains a concern for people. Our strategy makes a commitment to deliver regulation driven by people’s needs and experiences of care. These assessments of the responsive key question include looking at what practices are doing innovatively to improve patient access to primary care and sharing this information to drive improvement.

How we carried out the assessment

This assessment was carried out remotely.

This included:

  • Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing.
  • Requesting evidence from the provider.

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 found that:

  • During the assessment process, the provider highlighted the efforts they are making or are planning to make to improve the responsiveness of the service for their patient population.
  • The effect of these efforts are not yet reflected in patient feedback. Patient feedback was that they could not always access care and treatment in a timely way. Patients were dissatisfied with the arrangements for getting through to the practice by phone.

Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:

  • Continue with their plans to recruit members to their patient participation group.
  • Continue to improve patient access to the surgery.

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 Health Care

27 February 2019

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Eston Surgery on 27 February 2019 as part of our inspection programme.

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 and good for all population groups.

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 dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
  • The practice organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
  • The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.

We saw an area where the practice should make an improvement:

The practice should improve the way it involves patients, through a patient participation group.

Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice

6 October 2015

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Eston Surgery on 6 October 2015. 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 in place for reporting and recording significant events.
  • Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
  • Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.

  • Feedback from people who used the service and stakeholders was continually positive about the way staff treated people. All of the comments from patients were extremely positive about the care patients experienced. Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.

  • Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.

  • Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and that there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
  • 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 supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
  • The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour.

We saw an area of outstanding practice;

  • Staff recognised patients emotional and social needs were as important as their physical health needs. Staff provided us with many examples and we saw evidence to show how patients were supported with their emotional and social needs. For example, staff supported patients to make calls to other organisations and to fill in forms for DVLA licence renewal, benefits and insurance. We spoke with two patients who told us the office manager and practice manager had supported them with completing DVLA and benefits forms.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice