Crowhall Medical Group

Updated 13 May 2022

Crowhall Medical Group is located in Gateshead at:

Felling Health Centre

Stephenson Terrace

Gateshead

Tyne and Wear

NE10 9QG

The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the Regulated Activities; diagnostic and screening procedures, maternity and midwifery services and treatment of disease, disorder or injury and surgical procedures.

The practice is situated within the NHS Newcastle Gateshead Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and delivers General Medical Services (GMS)to a patient population of about 6,056. This is part of a contract held with NHS England.

The practice is part of a wider network of GP practices known as Gateshead East Primary Care Network (PCN). Other practices in this network are Longrigg, St Albans and Pelaw practices.

Information published by Public Health England shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the second lowest decile (two of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice population is relative to others.

According to the latest available data, the ethnic make-up of the practice area is 96% White, 2% Asian and 2% Other.

There is a team of three GPs, two male and one female. There are three nurses and a health care assistant who provide nurse led clinics for long-term conditions. The GPs are supported at the practice by a team of reception/administration staff. The practice manager and assistant practice manager provide managerial oversight.

Due to the enhanced infection prevention and control measures put in place since the pandemic and in line with the national guidance, most GP appointments were telephone consultations. If the GP needs to see a patient face-to-face then the patient is offered this option.

Extended access/ Out of hours services are provided locally by Gateshead Doctors on Call (GatDoc), where late evening and weekend appointments are available. Patients telephone 111 to access the service which is available between 6pm – 8.30am Monday to Friday and 6pm Friday until 8.30am Monday. It also covers all Public Bank Holidays.

Updated 13 May 2022

We carried out an announced inspection at Crowhall Medical Group on 14 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 Crowhall Medical Group on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we carried out this inspection

This inspection was a comprehensive inspection as part of our inspection programme. This was the first inspection of this service under the new provider’s registration.

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
• Staff questionnaires

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. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
• The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.

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

• Continue to assure themselves that the call and recall system provided by the GP federation is working effectively for their patients.

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