The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

Consett Medical Centre

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Station Yard, Consett, County Durham, DH8 5YA (01207) 583400

Provided and run by:
Consett Medical Centre

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

Date of Assessment: 14 July 2025 to 15 July 2025. Consett Medical Centre is a GP practice and delivers service to approximately 16,860 patients under a contract held with NHS England. The National General Practice Profiles states that 23.6% of patients are classified as older people, compared to the England average of 17.5%, indicating an older patient demographic. Information published by Office for Health Improvement and Disparities showed that deprivation within the practice population group was in the fifth decile (5 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.

This was a responsive assessment carried out as a follow-up to the previous assessment conducted in January 2025, when the service was rated Good overall but received a Requires Improvement rating under the key question of Safe. At that time, a breach of Regulation 12 (safe care and treatment) was identified. The purpose of this follow-up assessment was to evaluate the progress made in addressing the identified concerns and to determine whether the necessary improvements had been implemented to ensure compliance.

The service had a good learning culture and people could raise concerns. Managers investigated incidents thoroughly. People were protected and kept safe. Staff understood and managed risks. The facilities and equipment met the needs of people, were clean and well-maintained and any risks mitigated. 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 medicines well and involved people in planning any changes.

 

During an assessment under our new approach

Date of Assessment: 27 January 2025 to 30 January 2025. Consett Medical Centre is a GP practice and provides General Medical Services (GMS) under a locally agreed contract with NHS England to approximately 16,800 patients. The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the Regulated Activities: diagnostic and screening procedures; treatment of disease, disorder or injury; maternity and midwifery services; family planning; and surgical procedures. The deprivation score of the area in which the practice is situated is 5 (1 being most deprived, 10 being less deprived). This assessment considered the demographics of the people using the service, the context the service was working within and how this impacted service delivery. This was a responsive assessment conducted to determine if there were improvements since the previous inspection in November 2022.

We found 1 breach of regulation in relation to safe care and treatment, with concerns regarding the safe management of medicines. We asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment. However, the completion of clinical tasks had improved since the last assessment, the service had a good learning culture and people could raise concerns. Managers investigated incidents thoroughly. Staff understood and managed risks. The facilities and equipment were clean, well-maintained and met the needs of the people. 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.

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. Access had improved since the last assessment, with ongoing evaluations. People received fair and equal care. The service worked to reduce health and care inequalities through training and feedback.

22 november 25 november

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out an announced focused inspection at Consett Medical Centre on 22 and 25 November 2022. Overall, the practice is rated as Requires Improvement.

The key question ratings were:

Safe – Requires Improvement

Effective – Good

Caring – Not inspected rating of Good carried forward from last inspection

Responsive - Requires Improvement

Well-led – Good

At our previous inspection in January 2016 we rated the practice as Good overall. They were rated as Good for the key questions. We did not inspect the key question of Caring during this inspection, therefore it remains rated as Good

The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Consett Medical Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we carried out this inspection

This was a focused inspection to respond to risk and follow up on concerns that were raised with us.

How we carried out the inspection

Throughout the pandemic CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, taking into account the circumstances arising as a result of the pandemic, and in order to reduce risk, we have conducted our inspections differently.

This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site. This was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements.

This included:

  • Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing.
  • Staff questionnaires
  • Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system and discussing findings with the provider.
  • Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider.
  • Requesting evidence from the provider.
  • A short site visit.

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 have rated this practice as Requires Improvement overall and Requires Improvement for the Key Questions of Safe and Responsive.

We found that:

  • The practice did not always provide care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm. There was a significant backlog of clinical tasks within their clinical records system that required attention.
  • The practice was working hard to ensure backlogs created by COVID-19 were being reduced quickly and safely.
  • The practice adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • The practice had recently recruited a new practice manager and reviewed how the practice was led. Their aims were to promote the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.
  • People were not satisfied with the way they accessed services the practice offered. The practice had recognised that people found accessing their services challenging and had introduced new measures to address this issue.

We found a breach of regulations. The provider must:

  • Ensure care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients.

Though we found no further breaches of regulation the provider should:

  • Continue to develop and improve access to its services for patients.

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 Hospitals and Interim Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services

06 December 2021

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out an short notice announced inspection at Consett Medical Centre on 6 December 2021. This inspection was focused on the management of access to appointments.

Overall, the practice remains rated as Good. We did not rate the responsive key question at this inspection.

The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Consett Medical Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we carried out this inspection

This inspection was undertaken in response to data we reviewed which suggested potential issues with access to appointments.

How we carried out the inspection

The inspection was led by a CQC lead inspector and included a site visit.

Interviews were carried out with the practice manager

We found that:

  • The telephone system was not adequate for the volume of calls being received at peak times. The practice had purchased a new system which was due to be installed early in 2022
  • Staffing levels could be difficult to manage particularly around short notice absence. The practice team worked hard to ensure this did not impact the service that patients received.
  • People were able to access appointments in a timely way
  • The practice offered a range of appointment types
  • There were systems in place to support people who face communication barriers to access treatment
  • There were systems in place to monitor access to appointments and make improvements

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

7 June 2016

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Consett Medical Centre on 7 June 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.
  • Most patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named 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. 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.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

Minutes from meetings about palliative care and safeguarding issues to be shared with clinicians.

Prescription forms in GP’s bags to be monitored individually. Prescribers on home visits should record the serial numbers of any prescription forms/pads they are carrying before leaving the practice premises and on returning. Only a small number of prescription forms should be taken on home visits to minimise the potential loss.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

24 June 2014

During an inspection looking at part of the service

Since the previous inspection undertaken in December 2013, the practice had made numerous improvements regarding their resources, appointments, and clinics held.

During the inspection we spoke with six patients. They all expressed satisfaction with the practice and the care given to them with most of them having been patients there for many years. The extra surgeries were welcomed although the patients spoken with had not had any problems getting appointments.

10 March 2014

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We found the provider had made improvements in relation to the cleanliness of the practice. We saw a nurse had been appointed as the lead for infection control and a formal policy and monitoring system had been implemented.

2 December 2013

During a routine inspection

We observed the waiting area when patients arrived to reception. We saw that staff dealt with enquiries as discretely as possible to limit the possibility of other patients hearing.

We spoke with nine patients. All of the patients said they were happy with the standard of care they received at the practice. Comments included 'I'm very happy with the service I've had', It's good, I don't have any complaints about any of the services' and 'Staff are lovely here.'

Most of the patients we spoke with expressed dissatisfaction with the appointment booking system. People told us 'It's horrendous trying to get an appointment', 'It's quite difficult to make an appointment', 'It's not very good at all' and 'It's fine, when you can get an appointment.'

We identified a number of areas of concern in respect of infection control. We found clinical waste was not secure, some equipment was unclean and some staff had not received appropriate training.

We found staff received regular training and supervision. Staff told us they felt supported by their managers.