We carried out a review of the data available to us about Fitzrovia Medical Centre on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Fitzrovia Medical Centre, you can give feedback on this service.
We carried out an announced focused assessment at Fitzrovia Medical Centre on 24 November 2023 and practice is now rated requires improvement for providing responsive services to patients. Overall, the practice remains rated as good.
Safe - not inspected, rating of good carried forward from previous inspection
Effective - not inspected, rating of good carried forward from previous inspection
Caring - not inspected, rating of good carried forward from previous inspection
Responsive – requires improvement
Well-led - not inspected, rating of good carried forward from previous inspection
Following our previous inspection on 11 May 2022 the practice was rated good overall and for all key questions.
The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Fitzrovia Medical Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk
Why we carried out this inspection
We carried out this assessment as part of our work to understand how practices are working to try to meet demand for access and to better understand the experiences of people who use services and providers.
We recognise the work that GP practices have been engaged in to continue to provide safe, quality care to the people they serve. We know colleagues are doing this while demand for general practice remains exceptionally high, with more appointments being provided than ever. In this challenging context, access to general practice remains a concern for people. Our strategy makes a commitment to deliver regulation driven by people’s needs and experiences of care. These assessments of the responsive key question include looking at what practices are doing innovatively to improve patient access to primary care and sharing this information to drive improvement.
How we carried out the review
This assessment was carried out remotely. It did not include a site visit.
The process included:
• Conducting an interview with the provider and members of staff using video conferencing.
• Reviewing patient feedback from a range of sources
• Requesting evidence from the provider.
• Reviewing data we hold about the service
• Seeking information/feedback from relevant stakeholders
Our findings
We based our judgement of the responsive key question on a combination of:
• what we found when we met with the provider
• information from our ongoing monitoring of data about services and
• information from the provider, patients, the public and other organisations.
We found that:
• During the assessment process, the provider highlighted the actions they have taken to make improvements to the responsiveness of the service for their patient population. They also identified the areas to be put in place to continue this improvement.
• Patient feedback was that they were satisfied with the arrangement for getting through to the practice by phone. Patient experience of obtaining an appointment and with appointment times offered was marginally lower than the England average. Patient feedback regarding satisfaction with the appointment offered was lower than the England average. The practice were aware of this and monitoring on an ongoing basis to ensure improvements.
• The practice was aware of the needs of the local population and was taking action to address these.
• The practice worked collaboratively with its primary care network to ensure additional types
of appointments and extended hours were available.
• The practice dealt with complaints in a timely manner and learned from them.
Whilst we found no breaches of regulation, the provider should:
• Continue to monitor and audit patient feedback to improve patient responses in the national GP patient survey.
Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.
Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA
Chief Inspector of Health Care
We carried out an announced inspection of the practice, involving a site visit on 11 May 2022. Overall, the practice is rated as Good.
Set out the ratings for each key question
This was the first comprehensive inspection of the practice, which was registered by the CQC in January 2021. Prior to that, another registered person had provided the service. The report of our inspection of the previous service in September 2019 can be found at the following page of our website www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-581328566
The record for the new registered service can be found at www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-10015733020
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. We carried out a site visit on 11 May 2022 and conducted a series of online and telephone interviews with staff and a member of the patient participation group.
This included:
Our findings
We based our judgement of the quality of care at this service on a combination of:
We found that:
Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:
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