Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Brook Medical Centre on 27 September 2016. 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 within the practice. Effective systems were in place to enable staff to report and record significant events. Learning from events was shared with relevant staff.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed. A range of risk assessments were in place within the practice to support the ongoing review and management of risk.

• In response to a recent child death enquiry in the Midlands, the practice made the decision to automatically register all babies on receipt of the birth notice rather than waiting for the parents to register them. The practice told us they hoped that this would prevent children being missed and not known to health and care services.

• 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.
• Feedback from patients about their care, and their interactions with all practice staff, was positive. Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• Most patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a GP. Urgent appointments were available on the day for patients who needed them. Advanced bookings could be made with no restriction on timescales.

• The practice used clinical audits to review patient care and outcomes had been used to improve services as a result.

• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• The practice worked effectively with the wider multi-disciplinary team to plan and deliver effective and responsive care to keep vulnerable patients safe.
• There was a clear leadership structure within the practice, and staff felt well-supported by management.
• The practice reviewed the way it delivered services as a consequence of feedback from patients and from staff. For example the practice had recruited a healthcare assistant to support the nursing team following feedback.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice