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