The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

Clifton Court Medical Practice

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Victoria Road, Darlington, County Durham, DL1 5JN (01325) 465646

Provided and run by:
Clifton Court Medical Practice

All Inspections

6 July 2023

During a monthly review of our data

We carried out a review of the data available to us about Clifton Court Medical Practice 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 Clifton Court Medical Practice, you can give feedback on this service.

15/10/2019

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Clifton Court Medical Practice on 15 October 2019 as part of our inspection programme. We carried out an inspection of this service due to the length of time since the last inspection. Following our review of the information available to us, including information provided by the practice, we focused our inspection on the following key questions: Effective and Well led

Because of the assurance received from our review of information we carried forward the ratings for the following key questions: Safe, Caring and Responsive

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 the practice to be outstanding in providing well led services because the culture of the practice and the way it was led and managed drove the delivery and improvement of high-quality, person-centred care.

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 leaders at the practice were proactive and collaborated effectively with local stakeholders, including in the sharing of new developments digitally. Staff well-being was an important focus in the team and the leaders were highly regarded by their staff. The practice had introduced numerous support mechanisms to sustain and protect staff. The practice had a culture of collaboration and sharing innovation with other practices in the locality. They were able to demonstrate quality improvement based on their actions.

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

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care

18 March 2015

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out this comprehensive inspection on 18 March 2015.

Overall, we rated this practice as good.

Our key findings 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, reviewed and addressed.
  • The practice provided a good standard of care, led by current best practice guidelines.
  • Patients were treated with dignity and respect.
  • The practice provided additional appointments during busy times.
  • The buildings were clean, and the risk of infection was kept to a minimum.
  • The practice provided effective care and support to people in vulnerable circumstances, such as people with drug and alcohol problems and those from travelling communities.

However, there were also areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements. There was a lack of information readily available to patients in the reception area. This means patients were not easily aware of additional help and support services and how to actively engage with the practice to provide feedback.

The provider should:

Review the information available to patients in the reception area. It should ensure sufficient information is available to patients on health promotion and prevention. It should also ensure that information about complaints procedures and opportunities for patients to provide feedback are easily accessible.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

25, 27 November 2013

During a routine inspection

We spent time during our visits observing how the practice worked and speaking to the General Practitioner (GP), patients, staff and stakeholders. Patients told us they felt their needs were met by the practice and we saw positive exchanges between patients and staff.

Care and treatment was planned and delivered in a way that was intended to ensure people's safety and welfare. We saw the general practitioners were following national guidance as well as local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) guidelines to make sure they were following best practice.

We saw the practice was up to date with infection control policies and procedures and when we spoke with staff they had a clear understanding how to reduce the risk of cross infection. The surgery was clean and well maintained.

Staff were provided with support, guidance and training to make sure they were able to carry out their role safely and monitored their performance to maintain the standards.

The provider took steps to make sure they had an effective system to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people receive.

Staff we spoke with understood safeguarding procedures.