The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

Corbridge Medical Group

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Corbridge Health Centre, Newcastle Road, Corbridge, Northumberland, NE45 5LG (01434) 632011

Provided and run by:
Corbridge Medical Group

All Inspections

6 July 2023

During a monthly review of our data

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

16 and 19 August 2022

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out an announced focused inspection at Corbridge Medical Group on 16 and 19 August 2022. Overall, the practice is rated as Good.

The key question ratings were:

Safe - Good

Effective - Good

Well-led – Good

At our previous inspection in February 2016 we rated the practice as Outstanding overall and for the key questions of responsive and well-led. They were rated as Good for the key questions of safe, effective and caring.

At this inspection, we found that those areas previously regarded as outstanding practice were now embedded throughout the majority of GP practices. While the provider had maintained this good practise, the threshold to achieve an outstanding rating had not been reached. The practice is therefore now rated good for providing well-led services.

The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Corbridge Medical Group 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 Good overall

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. 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 way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.

We saw areas of outstanding practice:

  • The practice had carefully assessed the way they managed access for people exhibiting potential symptoms of cancer. They had seen a fall in mortality rates following this work.
  • The practice had taken an active role in developing a local paramedic home visiting service. The local primary care network employed three paramedics who provide home visit support mainly for the frail and elderly.
  • The practice continued to promote a positive and supportive culture within their workforce.

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

9 February 2016

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Corbridge Medical Group on 9 February 2016. Overall the practice is rated as outstanding.

Our key findings were as follows:

  • Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. There was a proactive approach to understanding the needs of different groups of people and to deliver care in a way that met their needs and promoted equality.
  • Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns and report incidents and near misses. All opportunities for learning from internal and external incidents were maximised.
  • Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
  • Feedback from patients was very positive and the practice achieved high scores in the National GP Patient Survey.
  • Staff were committed to working collaboratively with other services. The involvement of other organisations was integral to how services were planned and delivered.
  • Patients said they were able to get an appointment with a GP when they needed one, with urgent appointments available the same day.
  • Extended hours surgeries were offered between 6pm and 7.30pm every Monday evening.
  • The practice implemented suggestions for improvements and made changes to the way it delivered services as a consequence of feedback from patients and from the patient participation group (PPG). For example, an information leaflet for patients ‘what to expect at an outpatients appointment’ was developed in conjunction with the PPG.
  • The practice had comprehensive policies and procedures governing their activities and there were very good systems in place to monitor and improve quality.
  • There was a clear leadership structure in place and staff felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which they acted on.
  • There was strong collaboration and support across all staff groups. Staff throughout the practice worked well together as a team.

We saw several areas of outstanding practice including:

  • Staff were proactive in carrying out clinical audits to help improve patient outcomes. A significant number of audits had been carried out in the past year (15). There was an audit programme in place. An ‘audit club’ meeting was held every three months and was attended by members of the whole multi-disciplinary team (MDT). All the clinical audits we looked at were relevant, well designed, detailed and showed learning points and evidence of changes to practice.
  • Staff were proactively supported to acquire new skills and share best practice. A monthly ‘journal club’ meeting was held to discuss new guidelines. This was attended by the GPs, practice nurses and medicines manager. One of the GP partners had set up a local GP club; this was a monthly education event attended by many GPs from other practices in the area.
  • There was a proactive approach to understanding the needs of different groups of people and to deliver care in a way that met their needs and promoted equality. The practice was the preferred practice for a number of students at a local college for young people with learning disabilities, autism spectrum conditions and complex needs (25 patients). Services were tailored to meet those patients’ individual needs. GPs spent a large proportion of their time carrying out home visits (between 15 and 20 each day), due to the high number of elderly and very elderly patients in the area.
  • The local village was a designated dementia friendly village. The practice was part of this and signposted patients to the various support groups, including a café designed for patients with dementia. All staff within the practice had been trained as ‘dementia friends’.

However, there was also an area of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.

The provider should:

  • Provide staff with guidance on the action to take if refrigerator temperatures are higher than the levels recommended by Public Health England.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP 

Chief Inspector of General Practice