The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

Stonehill Medical Centre

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Piggott Street, Farnworth, Bolton, Lancashire, BL4 9QZ (01204) 573445

Provided and run by:
Stonehill Medical Centre

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

Date of Assessment: 26 August 2026. Stonehill Medical Centre is a GP practice and delivers services to approximately 14833 people under a contract held with NHS England. People could also attend Highfield Surgery which is the branch site and located approximately one mile from the main surgery. Both sites were visited during this inspection.

According to the latest available data, the ethnic make-up of the service area is approximately 76% White,17% Asian, 4% Black, 2% Mixed and 2% other ethnicities. Information published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities shows deprivation within the service population group is in the first decile (1 of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the service population is relative to others.

This was a focused assessment. We undertook this assessment due to the length of time since our last assessment. We assessed 10 quality statements from across all 5 key questions. 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.

SAFE - Staff kept facilities clean and maintained equipment appropriately to ensure people were kept safe. They assessed and managed the risk of infection well and took steps to control the risk of it spreading. There were enough staff with the right skills, qualifications and experience.

EFFECTIVE - Staff supported people to live healthier lives, monitoring their care and treatment to ensure they received positive and consistent outcomes.

CARING - Staff treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion, and respected their privacy and dignity.

RESPONSIVE - People could access care, treatment and support when they needed it. Leaders and staff were alert to discrimination and inequality that could disadvantage groups of people who used the service and sought ways to address any barriers.

WELL-LED - The service had a clear vision and strategy, which considered the needs of the people who used their service and the wider community. Staff understood their individual roles and responsibilities. Leaders accounted for the actions, behaviours and performance of staff through clear and effective governance processes.

23/08/2017

During an inspection looking at part of the service

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Stonehill Medical Centre on 9 September 2016. The overall rating for the practice was good, with a rating of requires improvement in the safe domain. The full comprehensive report on the September 2016 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Stonehill Medical Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

This inspection was an announced focused inspection carried out on 23 August 2017 to confirm that the practice had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breach in regulation that we identified in our previous inspection on 9 September 2016. This report covers our findings in relation to those requirements.

Overall the practice remains rated as good and the safe domain is now rated as good.

Our key findings were as follows:

  • All clinical rooms were locked with a keypad lock to prevent entry when unoccupied.

  • All patient information was secure.

  • All medicines and patient samples were kept securely.

  • Sharps bins were not over-filled.

  • Policies were in place regarding the above and regular checks were carried out to ensure compliance with the policies.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

09/09/2016

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Stonehill Medical Centre on 9 September 2016. 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 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 been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
  • 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. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns.
  • Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a GP and 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.
  • Consulting rooms were not kept locked and so patients had access to inappropriate items such as medicines and clinical samples from patients.

We saw areas of outstanding practice:

  • The practice held a clinical meeting at 8.30am each day and the community nurse also attended this. Specific patient issues such as patients receiving end of life care were discussed to ensure all relevant staff had up to date information. This meant clinicians in the multi-disciplinary team could discuss the best treatment for patients on an ongoing basis. Referrals were also discussed as a team to ensure they were appropriate and the relevant information was recorded in the referral letter. This was used as a form of ongoing quality assurance.

  • The practice had devised a Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) protocol. Where patients from certain named countries presented staff were prompted to ask discrete questions to identify any risks.

The area where the provider must make improvement is:

  • The practice must ensure they assess, monitor, manage and mitigate risks to the health and safety of service users. Specifically they must ensure medicines, patient samples and other unsafe items are not kept in unoccupied unlocked rooms.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice