The Care Quality Commission
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  • GP practice

Esk Valley Medical Practice

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Briar Hill,, Danby,, Whitby, North Yorkshire, YO21 2PA (01287) 660739

Provided and run by:
Esk Valley Medical Practice

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

Date of Assessment: 12 May 2026. Esk Valley Medical Practice is a GP practice in North Yorkshire and delivers services to approximately 5100 people under a contract held with NHS England. The practice consists of a main site at Danby, North Yorkshire and a branch site in Egton, North Yorkshire. Both locations operate a dispensary. Patients can be seen at either location except on Wednesdays when the branch site is closed. According to the latest available data, the ethnic make-up of the service area is approximately 98.9% White, 0.4% Asian, 0.5% Mixed, 0.1% Black and 0.1% Other. Information published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities shows deprivation within the service population group is in the fifth decile (5 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. 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 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.

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.

13 and 14 October 2016

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Danby Surgery on 13 and 14 October 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.
  • Feedback from patients about their care and treatment was consistently positive. Data from the national GP patient survey showed patients rated the practice higher than others for all aspects of care.
  • Staff were motivated and inspired to offer kind and compassionate care and worked to overcome obstacles to achieving this.
  • The practice worked closely with other organisations and with the local community in planning how services were provided to ensure that they met patients’ needs.
  • 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).
  • The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
  • The practice actively reviewed complaints and made improvements as a result.
  • High standards were promoted and owned by all practice staff, and teams worked together across all roles.
  • Governance and performance management arrangements were proactively reviewed and reflected best practice.
  • The staff demonstrated a strong collaboration, commitment and a common focus on improving quality of care and people’s experiences.
  • The patient participation group was active.
  • There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels within the practice.

We saw three areas of outstanding practice including:

  • The practice provided a weekly GP clinic at a local residential care service for people with a learning disability. At the time of our inspection the practice had 93 adults on their learning disability register (4% of the practice population), 89 of whom lived at this service. Appointments for people with a learning disability were between 15 and 30 minutes long dependent on individual need.
  • The practice was proactive in engaging with the local community. Several members of staff attended local community events where they spoke about a range of initiatives. For example the senior administrator had attended and spoke about the benefits and availability of flu vaccines which resulted in an increased uptake. The community practice nurse had attended and spoken about falls and how to reduce them. This had resulted in a number of patients being identified who would benefit from a personalised care plan as part of the admissions avoidance project.

  • To support independence and the safe use of medicines for many elderly patients who often lived alone, the practice dispensed medication into blister-packs (medication dosing systems). This included electronic dosing systems for patients with complex medication and special needs so they could maintain their independence whilst taking medication safely. Depending on their needs, patients received a medication administration chart or a large-print list of medication with information on their purpose and dosing.

However there was one area of practice where the provider should make improvements:

  • Review the current procedures in relation to near misses to cover all aspects of the dispensing process.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice