The Weardale Practice

On this page

• Overview
• Person-centred Care
• Care provision, Integration and continuity
• Providing Information
• Listening to and involving people
• Equity in access
• Equity in experiences and outcomes
• Planning for the future

We looked for evidence the practice met people’s needs, and staff treated people equally and without discrimination. At our last assessment, we rated this key question as good. At this assessment, the rating remains the same.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

We did not look at Person-centred Care during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Care provision, Integration and continuity during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Providing Information during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Listening to and involving people during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

The provider made sure people could access the care, support and treatment they needed when they needed it.

The provider performed lower than the national average in the results of the 2026 National GP Patient Survey relating to access. For example, 48% of respondents found it easy to contact the practice by phone, 55% found it easy to contact the practice using their website, and 30% found it easy to contact the practice using the NHS App. These results were all lower than the national averages of 57%, 58%, and 54% respectively. Practice leaders had analysed this data, and regularly reviewed access data such as the number of telephone calls received and how quickly these were answered. In response to this, practice leaders made changes to staffing levels and the number of administrative staff answering the phones at certain times throughout the day. We saw evidence that practice leaders had held meetings and protected learning time to discuss challenges with access. Feedback from people via the Friends and Family survey was mostly positive in relation to access. Representatives from the PPG also had positive feedback in this area and told us about reasonable adjustments that had been made to support patients to access the practice.

Staff and leaders actively listened to information about people who were most likely to experience inequality in experience or outcomes. They tailored their care, support and treatment in response to this.

Staff treated people equally and without discrimination. Leaders proactively sought ways to address any barriers to improving people’s experience and worked with local services, including within the voluntary sector, to address any local health inequalities. Staff understood the importance of providing an inclusive approach to care and made adjustments to support equity in people’s experience and outcomes. Staff followed processes to ensure people could register at the practice, including those in vulnerable circumstances such as homeless people and Travellers. Staff used systems to capture and review feedback from people who used the practice, which included those who did not speak English or have access to the internet. This was reflected in the feedback shared from people who used the practice, which was positive. The 2026 National GP Patient Survey showed that 79% of respondents felt the healthcare professional they saw at their last appointment was good at considering their mental wellbeing. This was higher than the national average of 75%.

We did not look at Planning for the future during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.