West Rainton Surgery is a GP practice delivering care to around 5,468 people.

Linda Hirst, CQC deputy director of operations in the North, said: ‘When we inspected West Rainton Surgery, we found a practice that puts people at the heart of everything it does. Staff treated people with kindness and respect and were exceptional at listening and understanding people's needs to ensure they could access care in a way that worked for them.'

Hirst noted the surgery built ‘strong relationships with its community and had developed innovative ways to support people who might otherwise struggle to access healthcare'.

She said the practice had identified communication barriers within the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community and put in place plans to support them, resulting in an increased number of people having health checks and reducing their need for future care and support.

Practice manager, Samantha McErlane, said: ‘We are absolutely delighted to have been rated outstanding by the CQC following our inspection in October. As a practice we work extremely hard to ensure we are providing good patient-centred care to our patients, as well as ensuring we have a caring and supportive environment for our team.

‘We are extremely lucky have a fantastic team of clinical and non-clinical staff at our practice. I believe the team is the reason for our rating – the service, dedication and care they provide to our patients and our practice every day is the reason we are outstanding.'