The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

Quayside Medical Practice

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Failsworth District Centre, Ashton Road West, Failsworth, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M35 0AD (0161) 357 1600

Provided and run by:
Quayside Medical Practice

All Inspections

08 November 2023

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Quayside Medical Practice on 24 October and 8 November 2023. Overall, the practice is rated as good.

Safe - good

Effective – good

Caring - good

Responsive -good

Well-led - good

Following our previous inspection on 17 December 2015, the practice was rated good overall and outstanding for providing Caring services.


At this inspection, we found that those areas previously regarded as outstanding practice were now embedded throughout the majority of GP practices. While the provider had maintained this good practise, the threshold to achieve an outstanding rating had not been reached. The practice is therefore now rated good for providing Caring services.

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

Why we carried out this inspection

We carried out this inspection in line with CQC methodology as the practice had not been inspected since 2015.

How we carried out the inspection

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.

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.
  • 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.
  • 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:

  • Improve the system to demonstrate all patient blood tests have been checked before issuing Warfarin.
  • Take action to ensure all eligible patients are provided with a steroid card.
  • Record the monitoring undertaken of the referrals, prescribing and consultations of staff employed in advanced clinical practice.
  • Formally record the trend analysis of significant events to determine if any further actions are required for any repeated issues.
  • Continue to monitor and improve the uptake of cervical screening and childhood immunisations.
  • Take steps to carry out a further patient survey to identify if the improvements made to access have been effective.

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

17/12/2015

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Quayside Medical Practice on 17 December 2015.  Overall the practice is rated as good.

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

  • There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
  • Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
  • Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
  • 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 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.
  • There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
  • The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour. 

We saw two areas of outstanding practice:

  • The practice had a focussed care team who worked in a holistic way with vulnerable patients. This was to improve their outcomes in relation to health and social care needs.

  • The practice had been through a difficult time following a senior GP partner suddenly leaving. They dealt with the increased workload without impacting on patient satisfaction. Emotional and practice support, including counselling, was put in place for all staff.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice