Thornton Lodge Surgery

On this page

• Overview
• Person-centred Care
• Care provision, Integration and continuity
• Providing Information
• Listening to and involving people
• Equity in access
• Equity in experiences and outcomes
• Planning for the future

We looked for evidence that the service met people’s needs, and that staff treated people equally and without discrimination. The service provided information people could understand. People received fair and equal treatment and staff were trained to understand people’s needs. People who used the service were supported to live healthier lives. The practice understood the patient population and they identified where they could make changes to support patients. Patients were able to book routine and on the day appointments and work had been done to increase the number of available appointments.

This is the first inspection for this service since its registration with CQC. This key question has been rated as Good.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The service made sure people were at the centre of their care and treatment choices and they decided, in partnership with people, how to respond to any relevant changes in people’s needs. The patients had access to appointments provided by a multi-skillset of clinicians including GPs, advanced care practitioners, nurses and a phlebotomist. According to the National GP Patient Survey, during their last general practice appointment, 88% of patients stated they were involved as much as they wanted to be in decisions about their care and treatment. This figure put them only slightly behind the national and local figure of 91%.

The service understood the diverse health and care needs of people and their local communities, so care was joined-up, flexible and supported choice and continuity. Staff told us that appointments were available for those with urgent need on the same day and routine appointment could be booked. Social prescribers came into the practice, and were able to signpost and support patients with the understanding of the social, economic and environmental factors that impact a patients’ health and wellbeing. They showed us how they had built relationships with community organisations and religious institutions. Any patient referrals were completed by the practice secretary. A record was kept of all referrals, which ensured that referrals could be tracked and any delays monitored. There was a clear procedure in place for the expected timeframe of completion for each type of referral.

The service supplied appropriate, accurate and up-to-date information in formats that were tailored to individual needs. The practice could provide interpretation service when requested. They could provide patients with information in different formats, languages and print sizes. Posters were displayed in the reception area to provide patients with information on the practice, and the different services available to them. Individual communication needs were noted on patients’ records. Staff were able to support patients with using online services or note that a patient had a barrier to them accessing digital services. The practice had policies in place for information governance, and a process in place for if a patient requested access to their records. Staff had completed information governance or data protection training. Staff we discussed confidentiality with were able to explain what they had in place to ensure patient information was kept secure and confidential. The practice website contained up-to-date information on opening times, patient registration, complaints and how to access certain services.

The service made it easy for people to share feedback and ideas, or raise complaints about their care, treatment and support. They involved people in decisions about their care and told them what had changed as a result. The provider had recently begun to reestablish a patient participation group (PPG). The provider told us that it struggled to get patient attendance, but was persevering with its approach. There was a system to record and investigate complaints. Staff were aware of how to direct patients to the complaints team. Complaints were dealt with by a central team, and these were actioned in an appropriate and timely manner. The complaints policy was comprehensive and complaint responses to patient contained signposting to the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman. The practice website contained information on ways in which a patient could complain including a complaints form and complaints leaflet. However, we were informed of an instance where a complaint had not been responded to. We discussed this with the provider who had no record of this. They told us that they would investigate this further.

The service made sure that people could access the care, support and treatment when they needed it. The service offered a range of appointments from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday. The practice had a system in place which ensured there were appointments available on the day, and bookable in advance with a variety of different clinicians. Patients could be seen face to face or could book a telephone appointment. The practice offered enhanced access appointments that were available at alternative locations within Huddersfield. The practice had several ways of booking appointments; these included online via a digital triage system, by calling the practice, and by talking directly to the reception team. To ensure all digital requests requested were dealt with the practice had a policy in place by which all requests were picked up by the administration team who would deal with any queries and then assign any clinical request to clinicians. There was safety-netting in place to ensure no requests were missed. The practice had identified that not all patients were able to use the online system and had held a session in practice to help patients navigate this. In cases where the patient could not use the digital system, this was documented on their record, and they could use alternative means to book appointments. The practice also offered phlebotomist services on a Monday and sexual health nurse appointments on a Friday, which were pre-bookable. The practice provided data that showed they had increased the number of appointments available to patients by 19.2% in 2024 compared to 2023. The practice could also book patients into a local respiratory clinic. The practice had a call back function on the telephone system so that patients did not have to wait on the telephone, although they told us that this was not utilised often. On analysis of the data, the practice identified an average wait time of 6 minutes for callers to get through to the reception team.

Staff and leaders actively listened to information about people who are most likely to experience inequality in experience or outcomes and tailored their care, support and treatment in response to this. Staff understood the importance of providing an inclusive approach to care and made adjustments to support equity in people’s experience and outcomes. Reasonable adjustments were made for patients who experienced difficulties accessing services. For example, a translation service was available and staff spoke additional languages. Patients were offered longer appointments if they required them. For example, if patients required additional language support, or had complex needs. Additionally, staff informed us that a private area was available upon request for people who needed a confidential conversation with reception staff. Staff had completed equality and diversity training, and most staff had also completed learning disability and autism awareness training.

People were supported to plan for important life changes, so they could have enough time to make informed decisions about their future, including at the end of their life. Our records review showed people were supported to consider their wishes for their end-of-life care, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation. This information was shared with other services when necessary.