The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

Caritas General Practice Partnership Also known as Dial House Medical Centre

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Dial House Medical Centre, 131 Mile End Lane, Stockport, Greater Manchester, SK2 6BZ (0161) 983 5777

Provided and run by:
Caritas General Practice Partnership

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

Date of Assessment: 06 July 2026. Caritas General Practice Partnership (Caritas GP Partnership) is a GP practice and delivers services to approximately 12,400 people under a contract held with NHS England.In addition to the Dial Road Practice in Heavily, Stockport, the service had a branch site at, Ellesmere Medical Centre, in Cheadle Heath, Stockport.

According to the latest available data, the ethnic make-up of the service area is approximately 90% White, 5% Asian, 3% Mixed, 1% Black and 1% Other.

Information published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities shows deprivation within the service population group is in the 6th decile (6 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. During the assessment we visited the main practice and the branch site.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- In the main, Caritas GP Partnership 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.

14 June 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 Caritas General Practice Partnership also known as ‘Dial House Medical Centre’ on 9 November 2016. At the inspection in November the overall rating for the practice was good, although the key question Safe was rated requires improvement. This was because a system to ensure appropriate action was taken in response to safety alerts was not in place. We also identified some areas where the practice could improve other aspects of the service they provided. The full comprehensive report on the November 2016 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Caritas General Practice Partnership on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

This inspection was a desk-based review carried out on 14 June 2017 to confirm that the practice had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breach in regulations that we identified in our previous inspection on 9 November 2016. This report covers our findings in relation to that requirement and also additional improvements made by the practice since our last inspection.

The practice is now rated as good for providing safe services, and overall the practice is rated as good.

Our key findings were as follows:

  • Since the previous inspection the practice had taken action to strengthen the arrangements in response to safety alerts. The practice had invested in a web based GP management system. This was used to log all alerts, with a description and record of the action status. This was supported by an annual GP partner allocation for the management and leadership of the alerts. Relevant issues identified were discussed with the staff team at regular clinical meetings.

In response to the areas we identified of where the practice should make improvements:

  • The practice had reviewed its management of patients prescribed high risk medicines such as disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs). The practice improved its protocol to ensure a systematic and regular review of patients prescribed these medicines was undertaken.
  • Systems to ensure staff had easy access to the variety of meetings minutes that staff attended had improved. Meeting minutes, patient safety alerts and significant events were were now accessible to staff through web based GP management system.
  • The practice had ensured all staff who undertook chaperone duties were trained and had disclosure and barring checks (DBS).
  • The practice had reviewed and updated its complaints procedure to include the details of NHS England, should patients wish to complain directly to them.

In addition, in response to our previous inspection report, the practice had reviewed its risk assessment in relation to not having a defibrillator available at the practice. Defibrillators were now available at both the main and the branch locations of practice.

The practice had also trained a staff member in additional duties so that they could continue with the referrals process in the absence of the practice secretary.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

09/11/2016

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Caritas General Practice Partnership also known as ‘Dial House Medical Centre’ on 9 November 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good. Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

  • Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns and report incidents and near misses. Significant events had been investigated and action had been taken as a result of the learning from events.

  • Staff were trained in basic life support and a supply of medicines were available to respond to a medical emergency. Oxygen was available for medical emergencies but the practice did not have a defibrillator (used to attempt to restart a person’s heart) on site.

  • There were systems in place to reduce risks to patient safety. For example, infection control practices were good and there were regular checks on the environment and on equipment used. However, the protocol in place for responding to patient safety alerts had not always been implemented appropriately.

  • Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance.

  • Feedback from patients about the care and treatment they received from clinicians was very positive. Patients told us they were treated with dignity and respect and they were involved in decisions about their care and treatment.

  • Data showed that outcomes for patients at this practice were comparable to those of patients locally and nationally.

  • Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.

  • The appointments system was flexible to accommodate the needs of patients. Urgent appointments were available the same day and routine appointments could be booked in advance. An open surgery was provided from 9.30am to 10.30am Monday to Friday. Patients told us this was very much valued.

  • The practice had good facilities, including disabled access. It was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.

  • Complaints had been investigated and responded to in a timely manner.

  • The practice had a clear vision to provide a safe and high quality service.

  • There was a clear leadership and staff structure and staff understood their roles and responsibilities.

  • The practice provided a range of enhanced services to meet the needs of the local population.

Areas where the provider must make improvements are:

  • Introduce a system to ensure appropriate action is taken in response to safety alerts.

Areas where the provider should make improvement are:

  • Introduce a more robust system for monitoring patients who are prescribed medicines which may have serious side effects.

  • Ensure staff who are responsible for providing chaperone duties have undergone all required employment checks and training for the role.

  • Record meetings to ensure that important information has been shared as appropriate across the staff team.

  • Review and update information provided to patients about the complaints process.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice