Linthorpe Surgery

Updated 14 December 2023

Linthorpe Surgery is located in Middlesbrough at:

378 Linthorpe Road

Middlesbrough

TS5 6HA

We visited this location as part of the inspection.

The practice also has a branch surgery at:

North Ormesby Health Village

1 Trinity Mews

North Ormesby

Middlesbrough

TS3 6AL

Patients can access services at either surgery.

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

The practice is situated within the Tees Valley Integrated Care System (ICS). This is one of 42 Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) which cover England to meet health and care needs across an area, coordinate services and plan in a way that improves population health and reduces inequalities between different groups. The practice delivers General Medical Services (GMS) to a patient population of about 20,500 patients. This is part of a contract held with NHS England.

The practice is part of a wider network of 3 GP practices in the Holgate Primary Care Network.

The practice scores 1 on the deprivation measurement scale; the deprivation scale goes from 1 to 10, with 1 being the most deprived. People living in more deprived areas tend to have greater need for health services. According to the latest available data, the ethnic make-up of the practice area is 87.6% white, and 8.3% Asian, with other minority groups also present. There is a significant proportion of patients whose first language is not English.

Compared to England and area averages, the practice population has a higher proportion of young people, and a lower proportion of older people.

There is a team of 9 GP partners and 3 salaried GPs who provide cover at both practices. The practice has a team of 9 nursing/clinical practitioner staff and 2 healthcare assistants. The GPs are supported at the practice by a team of reception/administration and management staff. The practice is a training practice and also had 4 GP trainees at the time of inspection, who work with support and supervision from the partner GPs.

The practice is open between 8 am to 6 pm Monday to Friday. The practice offers a range of appointment types including on the day, telephone consultations and advance appointments, offered according to clinical need after consideration by a GP in a total triage system.

Extended access is provided locally by Elm Alliance, where late evening and weekend appointments are available. Out of hours services are provided through the 111 service.

Updated 14 December 2023

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Linthorpe Surgery on 21 September 2023 and 5 October 2023. Overall, the practice is rated as good.

Safe - good

Effective - good

Caring - good

Responsive – good

Well-led - good

We have rated the practice as good overall and for all outcomes.

Following our previous inspection in September 2015, the practice was rated good overall and for all key questions.

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

Why we carried out this inspection

We carried out this inspection in line with our inspection priorities. This inspection included the key questions of safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led.

How we carried out the inspection/review

This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site.

This included:

• Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing.
• Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system (this was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements).
• Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider.
• Requesting evidence from the provider.
• A short site visit.
• Sending questionnaires to staff and other stakeholders

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:

• The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm. There were comprehensive systems for incident recording, reporting and analysis. There were thorough safeguarding procedures with good local links with other agencies.
• Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs. There was a comprehensive programme of clinical audit, and evidence of quality improvement initiatives improving patient outcomes.
• Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
• The practice continued to try to ensure that patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
• The practice had transitioned to a Modern General Practice model and were able to demonstrate increased ease of access and patient satisfaction.
• The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care. There was a strong cohesive staff team, who spoke positively about their leaders. Clinical leads took ownership of their respective areas and communicated required changes in a clear and timely manner.

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

• Continue to take steps to proactively identify carers and increase the numbers of carers on the practice register to 3% of the practice population.
• Carry out a full review of the asthma management process to identify where additional improvements can be made.

We saw the following examples of outstanding practice:

• Patients were met in reception by a waiting room co-ordinator who signposted patients on an individual basis. This included to a quiet private area where patients could register in person or complete an e-consult with help from a member of staff.

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