The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

Rockliffe Court Surgery

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Rockliffe Court, Hurworth Place, Darlington, County Durham, DL2 2DS (01325) 720605

Provided and run by:
Rockliffe Court Surgery

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

Date of Assessment: 1 December 2025 to 4 December 2025. Rockliffe Court Surgery is a GP practice and delivers service to 6,284 patients under a contract held with NHS England. The National General Practice Profiles states that the practice population has a higher-than-average proportion of patients over the age 65 (25.9% compared to the Darlington PCN level of 20.7%).

Information published by Office for Health Improvement and Disparities shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the 9th decile (9 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.

22 September 2015

During a routine inspection

GOOD

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Rockliffe Court Surgery on 22 September 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

  • Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses. Information about safety was recorded, monitored, appropriately reviewed and addressed.
  • The practice used innovative and proactive methods to improve patient outcomes, working with other local providers to share best practice.
  • The practice had initiated positive service improvements for its patients that were over and above its contractual obligations.
  • The practice worked closely with other organisations and with the local community in planning how services were provided to ensure that they met patient’s needs.
  • Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
  • Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance. Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and any further training needs had been identified and planned.
  • 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.
  • Staff demonstrated they supported patient’s emotional and social needs and recognised they were as important as patient’s physical needs. Care needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance.
  • The practice demonstrated they were acutely aware of their population groups and responded to context. They focussed on the challenges faced by a rural community and planned their services around this.
  • The practice responded and was engaged with notable local groups and stakeholders.

We saw a wide range of outstanding practice, examples of which included:

  • The practice supported patients to live healthier lives through a targeted and proactive approach to health promotion and prevention of ill health. The practice was actively involved in the local community; they had reached out to them to promote better health. For example, they had a stall at the village Fayre annually and had invited Healthwatch to contribute to raise patient awareness of services. The practice had also engaged with a local charity and organised medicine pots to place in patient’s homes (Message in a bottle project). These contained care plans so that emergency health services knew where to find this relevant patient information if they visited.
  • The practice offered an e-mail consultation service. Patients using the electronic consultation usually received a response within one working day.
  • The practice had taken numerous locally available opportunities to implement service improvements and manage delivery challenges to its population. For example they had collaborated with the local parish church to arrange a volunteer service for delivery of medicines in the rural area. The practice was also working with a new village charity to set up a befriending service for patients who needed it and could refer their patients in for extra support if they were vulnerable.
  • A named GP had completed additional training with regard to autism to help ensure responsive and proactive care to adults with autism spectrum disorder in supported living. The GP had implemented a health promotion regime in diet and exercise that had resulted in the residents who lived there losing weight.

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice