- GP practice
Blackhall & Peterlee Practice
Assessment report published 13 October 2026
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Blackhall and Peterlee Practice is a GP practice and delivers services to approximately 10,234 people under a contract held with NHS England. The practice also has a branch surgery located in Peterlee Community Hospital. This branch site was not visited as part of this assessment. According to the latest available data, the ethnic make-up of the provider area is approximately 98.3% White, 0.7% Asian, 0.6% Mixed, 0.2% Black and 0.2% Other. Information published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities shows deprivation within the provider population group is in the 1 decile (1 of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the provider 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 provider, the context the provider was working within and how this impacted provider delivery. Where relevant, further commentary is provided in the quality statements section of this report.
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.
Staff supported people to live healthier lives, monitoring their care and treatment to ensure they received positive and consistent outcomes.
Staff treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion, and respected their privacy and dignity.
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 provider and sought ways to address any barriers.
The provider had a clear vision and strategy, which considered the needs of the people who used their services 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.
People's experience of this service
As part of our assessment, we reviewed feedback from people who used the service to understand their views and experience of the practice. This included feedback received by CQC, data from the National GP Patient Survey and the NHS Friends and Family test.
People spoke positively about the quality of care and treatment they received. They consistently described staff as kind, compassionate and respectful, and told us their privacy and dignity were maintained.
Results from the National GP Patient Survey (January to March 2026) demonstrated levels of patient satisfaction slightly below the national average. Overall, 69% of respondents reported a positive experience of the practice, compared with the national average of 77%.
However, more recent feedback from the NHS Friends and Family Test was positive, with 78% of respondents rating the practice as good or very good in May 2026, increasing to 79% in June and 83% in July. Across all 3 months, very good was the most frequently selected response, indicating that many patients were satisfied with the care and support they received.
There was an active Patient Participation Group (PPG) that represented the views of people using the practice. PPG representatives described how leaders responded positively to feedback and implemented changes. For example, the practice displayed data on missed appointments to raise patient awareness of the impact of non-attendance.
Leaders from the aligned care homes also provided consistently positive feedback about the practice. They told us that staff delivered high-quality care and support to care home staff, residents, and their families.