The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

Lowther Medical Centre

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

1 Castle Meadows, Whitehaven, Cumbria, CA28 7RG 07787 433340

Provided and run by:
North Cumbria Primary Care Limited

Important: The provider of this service changed. See old profile

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

Date of Assessment: 23 January 2026. Lowther Medical Centre is a GP practice and delivers service to approximately 14,066 patients under a contract held with NHS England. The National General Practice Profiles states that 22.8% of patients are aged 65 and over, compared to the England average of 17.9%, indicating an older patient demographic. Information published by Office for Health Improvement and Disparities shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the fourth decile (4 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.

At the last inspection in May 2025, we found 1 breach of regulation in relation to fit and proper persons employed. We asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns.

This inspection in January 2026 was a focused follow-up assessment conducted remotely to see if these concerns were addressed. We found the service now had robust and safe recruitment process in place, and there was an appraisal policy to guide structured oversight of staff performance, development, and support.

During an assessment under our new approach

Date of Assessment: 01 May 2025 to 02 May 2025. Lowther Medical Centre is a GP practice and delivers service to approximately 14,066 patients under a contract held with NHS England. The National General Practice Profiles states that 22.8% of patients are aged 65 and over, compared to the England average of 17.9%, indicating an older patient demographic. Information published by Office for Health Improvement and Disparities shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the fourth decile (4 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 did not have a robust or safe recruitment process in place, and there was no appraisal policy to guide structured oversight of staff performance, development, and support. However, appropriate staffing levels and a suitable skill mix were maintained to meet the needs of the service.

People were involved in decisions about their care. The service provided information people could understand. People knew how to give feedback and were confident the service took it seriously and acted on it. The service worked to eliminate discrimination. People received fair and equal care and treatment. The service worked to reduce health and care inequalities through training and feedback. People were involved in planning their care and understood options around choosing to withdraw or not receive care.

We found 1 breach of regulation in relation to fit and proper persons employed. We asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.

This was a responsive assessment conducted due to associated risks and to determine whether improvements had been made since the previous inspection in January 2024.

11 January 2024

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out a targeted assessment of Lowther Medical Centre in relation to the responsive key question. This assessment was carried out on 11 January 2024 without a site visit. Overall, the practice is rated as Good. We rated the key question of responsive as Requires improvement.

Safe - Good

Effective – Good

Caring - Good

Responsive – Requires improvement

Well-led – Good

The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for the

Bridges Medical Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we carried out this review.

We carried out this assessment as part of our work to understand how practices are working to try to meet demand for access and to better understand the experiences of people who use services and providers.

We recognise the work that GP practices have been engaged in to continue to provide safe, quality care to the people they serve. We know colleagues are doing this while demand for general practice remains exceptionally high, with more appointments being provided than ever. In this challenging context, access to general practice remains a concern for people. Our strategy makes a commitment to deliver regulation driven by people’s needs and experiences of care. These assessments of the responsive key question include looking at what practices are doing innovatively to improve patient access to primary care and sharing this information to drive improvement.

How we carried out the assessment

This assessment was carried out remotely.

This included:

  • Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing.
  • Requesting evidence from the provider.

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 found that:

  • During the assessment process the practice highlighted the efforts they are making to improve access, however, this was not yet reflected in the GP patient survey data or some of the other sources of patient feedback.

  • The practice had not collected their own patient feedback. Feedback from other sources on access such as NHS choices was poor.

  • Most of the complaints received in the last year (114) were in relation to access, in particular the telephone access.

Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:

  • Consider a formal action plan of responding to patient concerns about access to care and treatment.
  • Continue with plans to gain more targeted views on patient access to care and treatment with a view to improving this.

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 Health Care

13 April 2022

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced inspection at Lowther Medical Centre on 11 and 13 April 2022. Overall, the practice is rated as Good.

The ratings for each key question are:

Safe - Good

Effective - Good

Caring - Good

Responsive - Good

Well-led - Good

The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Lowther Medical Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we carried out this inspection

This inspection was a comprehensive inspection to rate the practice following a change to their registration with CQC. This was therefore the first rated inspection of the service under this provider.

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.
  • 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.
  • Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
  • 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.

Whilst we found the practice was not in breach of regulations, the provider should:

  • Continue to develop and improve access to the service for their patients.
  • Make sure staff are up to date with training relevant to their role.
  • To review and improve the analysis and sharing of learning from significant events in an attempt to reduce the likelihood of recurrence.

We saw several areas of outstanding practice.

  • The provider understood the importance of gathering and analysing data in order to ensure that patients received optimal care. They believed they could have a direct effect on the lifespan and health of patients living in the area served by Lowther Medical Centre. We saw several examples of the impact this was beginning to have, which can be found within the Evidence Table. In addition, their not-for-profit business model allowed them to invest in the health and well-being of the community.
  • During lockdown the practice set up “Operation Alec”, a programme to support vulnerable and socially isolated patients who lived alone. Staff delivered resources to over 100 patients to support their mental good health. Social prescribers at the practice worked with the patient participation group (PPG) and local schools to contact isolated patients and keep them company. During the inspection we saw moving examples of the highly positive impact this had had on these patients’ wellbeing.
  • A GP from the practice led the response to the initial Covid-19 outbreak in local care homes. Working with the provider, they initiated testing for all staff and patients at a care home where an outbreak had led to 11 deaths, identifying 17 positive cases out of 29 asymptomatic residents, and 20 positive cases out of 60 staff. Staff and residents who tested positive could be isolated, halting the continued spread of infection in the care home and preventing further deaths. This approach was then replicated across all care homes in the county.

Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care