The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

Fell Tower Medical Centre

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

575-583 Durham Road, Low Fell, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, NE9 5EY (0191) 491 3322

Provided and run by:
Fell Tower Medical Centre

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

Date of Assessment: 08 September to 15 September 2025. Fell Tower Medical Centre is a GP practice and delivers service to 7,487 people under a contract held with NHS England. Information published by Office for Health Improvement and Disparities shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the 6th decile (6 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.

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. In most cases staff managed medicines well and involved people in planning any changes.
In most cases people were involved in assessments of their needs. Staff reviewed assessments taking account of people’s communication, personal and health needs. Care was based on latest evidence and good practice. Staff worked with all agencies involved in people’s care for the best outcomes and smooth transitions when moving services. Staff made sure people understood their care and treatment to enable them to give informed consent.
People were treated with kindness and compassion. Staff protected their privacy and dignity. They treated them as individuals and supported their preferences. People had choice in their care and treatment. The service supported staff wellbeing.
People were involved in decisions about their care. The service provided information people could understand. There were processes in place for people to provide feedback. The service was easy to access and worked to eliminate discrimination. People received fair and equal care and treatment. People were involved in planning their care.
Governance arrangements were not consistently robust. Improvements were needed in areas such as oversight of mandatory training and record keeping.
However, feedback from staff described leaders as supportive and approachable. Staff felt supported to give feedback and were treated equally, free from bullying or harassment. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities. Managers worked with the local community to deliver the best possible care.
We found breaches of regulation in relation to good governance. We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.

24 November 2016

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of Fell Tower Medical Centre on 15 January 2015, which resulted in the practice being rated as good overall but as requiring improvement for the well led domain and the people experiencing poor mental health population group. This was because:

  • The practice needed to improve their governance arrangements to ensure a strong link between analysis of their performance and continuous quality improvement, including use of audits, significant events and incidents analysis.
  • The performance on the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) indicators was lower than other practices.

In November 2016 we commenced a focussed inspection where we asked the practice to send us information to demonstrate how they had responded to the issues previously identified.

This report only covers our findings in relation to these issues. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection by selecting the ‘all report’ link for Fell Tower Medical Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Our key findings were as follows:

  • The practice had developed a formal business plan. This reflected the vision and values, included a summary of goals and objectives and was regularly monitored.
  • A programme of staff meetings was in place. The practice had completed or was in the progress of completing a number of audits since the last inspection.
  • Staff had received training on reporting significant events; and the number reported by nursing and administration staff subsequently increased.

The area where the provider should make improvements is:

  • Take steps to ensure the care plans for patients with dementia are reviewed.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

15 January 2015

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of Fell Tower Medical Centre on 15 January 2015.

Overall, the practice was rated as good. It was also good at providing services for older people; People with long-term conditions; families, children and young people; working age people (including those recently retired and students); and people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable. The service for people experiencing poor mental health required improvement.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

  • Staff understood their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses. However, when things went wrong, reviews and investigations were not sufficiently thorough and lessons learnt were not communicated widely enough to support improvement.
  • People’s needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance. Staff had received training appropriate to their roles and any further training needs had been identified and training planned.
  • 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.
  • Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and that 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.
  • Data from the GP National Patient Survey demonstrated the practice performed similar to local and national averages in a number of areas.
  • The practice had a vision and a strategy but not all staff were aware of this and their responsibilities in relation to it. The practice had identified a number of areas for improvement during their planning for the CQC inspection.

However, there were areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.

Importantly the provider should:-

  • continue to improve their governance arrangements to ensure a strong link between analysis of their performance and continuous quality improvement, including use of audits, significant events and incidents analysis. Where areas for improvement are identified, the practice should develop robust plans to achieve the necessary improvements.

 

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice