Background to this inspection
Updated
18 June 2021
Brunswick Medical Centre is located at:
39 Brunswick Square
London
WC1N 1AF
The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the Regulated Activities; diagnostic and screening procedures, maternity and midwifery services and treatment of disease, disorder or injury.
The practice is situated within the Camden Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) area and delivers a General Medical Services (GMS) to a patient population of approximately 6950.
The service is provided by AT Medics which delivers services in 19 other CCG areas in London (including four practices in the North Central London region).
Information published by Public Health England reports deprivation within the practice population group as 3050 on a scale of 0-6900. The lower numbers represent the highest levels of deprivation and the higher numbers represent the lowest.
The practice cares for a diverse population (with approximately 43.5% of its patients from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds). The practice serves an area which also has a large Bengali population.
There is a team of four GPs (one female, four male) and one female practice nurse who work at Brunswick Medical Centre. In addition, the practice employs one pharmacist, one physician associate and a healthcare assistant. GPs are supported at the practice by a team of five receptionists and one administrator. A practice manager is based at the location and provides managerial oversight.
Due to the enhanced infection prevention and control measures put in place since the pandemic and in line with the national guidance, most GP appointments are telephone consultations. If the GP needs to see a patient face-to-face then the patient is offered a choice of either the main GP location or a nearby hub location. The practice continues to offer home visits to the most vulnerable patients during the pandemic (for example, those needing to shield due to being clinically vulnerable).
Extended access is provided by Brunswick Medical Centre (weekend appointments are available every Saturday 9am-1pm).
Updated
18 June 2021
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Brunswick Medical Centre on 29 April 2021. Overall, the practice is rated as “Good”.
Set out are the ratings for each key question:
Safe - Good
Effective - Good
Caring - Good
Responsive - Good
Well-led - Good
This location was inspected in November 2017 when under a previous provider. The inspection confirmed that concerns highlighted at a November 2016 comprehensive inspection had been addressed; and rated the practice as ‘Good’ overall. The current provider AT Medics registered this location on 1 April 2020.
How we carried out the inspection
Throughout the pandemic CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, taking into account the circumstances arising as a result of the pandemic, and in order to reduce risk, we have conducted our inspections differently.
This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site. This was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements.
This included:
• Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing
• Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system and discussing findings with the provider
• 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 have rated this practice as “Good” overall.
We have rated this practice as “Good” for older people, families, children and young people, for people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable, for working age people (including those recently retired and students) and for people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia).
We have rated this practice as “Requires Improvement” for people with long term conditions.
We found that:
• We saw how the practice's responsive approach to care and treatment had improved patient outcomes. For example, a recently introduced Saturday morning nurse led clinic had improved cervical screening uptake rates.
• The practice had adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
• We saw evidence of how governance arrangements, a motivated staff team and performance monitoring software combined to support the delivery of person-centred care.
Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:
• Ensure that safety alerts are actioned in a timely manner and that patients are made fully aware of potential risks of medications.
• Continue to improve systems for patient recall and patient monitoring.
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