We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Bexley Group Practice on 20 March 2019 as part of our inspection programme.

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 and good for all population groups.

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 organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. They had particularly focussed on improving patients’ access care and treatment in a timely way, and offered appointments at times and in formats to suit different groups in their patient population.
• 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:

• Review their arrangements for the completion of staff appraisals and ensure staff receive this support as per the provider’s policy.
• Review their quality improvement activities arrangements to ensure they demonstrated improvements in patients’ outcomes
• Improve their communications with patients about their changes from telephone consultations to online consultations and provide clear signposting to patients for alternatives to online consultations where remote consultations are required or preferred.
• Review and adequately monitor patient satisfaction following attempted appointments access improvements

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