Brook Brixton

Updated 10 October 2022

Brook Brixton is part of a larger organisation, Brook Young People, which provides several services across London including clinical services, counselling, education and training for young people and professionals and condom distribution schemes. The service is jointly funded by the London Borough of Lambeth.

Brook Brixton provides confidential sexual health services, support, and advice to young people under the age of 25 and is recognised as a level 2 contraception and sexual health service (CASH). As a level 2 service, Brook Brixton provides contraception, emergency contraception (EC), screening for infections, pregnancy testing, and termination of pregnancy referrals.

The service operates an outreach service for young people up to age 21 (or 25 with special education needs) with a staff base in Brixton. The service provided an outreach clinic on Wednesday afternoons at a local medical centre.

Brook Brixton provides an outreach clinical services programme which operates on a drop-in basis and is hosted by a support worker and / or a nurse. In addition to the services listed above they also provide sex and relationship information and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STI) when the nurse is present.

Young people can order free STI home test kits and access the ‘come correct’ free condom scheme.

Brook Brixton also provides wellbeing support and a sex and relationship education-training programme for local schools. In addition, the service provides support, guidance, and advice to young people who are transitioning to adult services for their ongoing sexual health and contraceptive needs. Locations include local colleges, youth centres, a pharmacy and a youth offending service and the service operated Monday to Friday.

There were nine permanent members of staff, including the nurse manager, service manager, senior administrator and receptionists. There were two vacant posts, a clinical nurse specialist that the service was hoping to recruit to and a CASH nurse (which was filled with long term bank nurse at the time of our inspection visit). All nurses and client support workers (CSW) were employed as a pool of staff and worked at other locations across London.

Brook Brixton had a Registered Manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons.’ Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The service is registered to provide the following regulated activities

• Diagnostic and screening procedures
• Family planning
• Treatment of disease, disorder or injury

Our inspection team

The team that inspected the service comprised two CQC inspectors and a specialist advisor nurse who specialised in sexual health services.

What people who use the service say

We spoke to three young people and reviewed feedback to the provider. All the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. All the young people we spoke with confirmed that staff were caring, professional, knowledgeable about sexual health and respectful. They described staff as non-judgmental and said they felt safe at appointments.

Feedback collected through the provider indicated young people felt comfortable using the service and would return; comments included, ‘made me feel at ease’ and ‘I was a bit anxious before coming here, but the staff were really nice and friendly and made me feel very comfortable’.

Updated 10 October 2022

Brook Brixton provides confidential sexual health services, support and advice to young people under the age of 21 and up to 25 for those with additional needs. It is recognised as a level 2 contraception and sexual health service (CASH). It works to meet the needs of local communities, in conjunction with other services when required.

This service had not yet been inspected or rated. We rated it as good because:

• The service had enough staff to care for children and young people and keep them safe. Staff had training in key skills, understood how to protect children and young people from abuse, and managed safety well. The service controlled infection risk well. Staff assessed risks to children and young people, acted on them and kept good care records. They managed medicines well. The service also managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them.
• Staff provided good care and treatment and advised them on pain relief when required. For example, before attending the clinic for insertion of an intrauterine device. Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service and made sure staff were competent. Staff worked well together for the benefit of children and young people, advised them and their families on how to lead healthier lives, supported them to make decisions about their care, and had access to good information. Key services were available seven days a week.
• Staff treated children and young people with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, took account of their individual needs, and helped them understand sexual health. They provided emotional support to children and young people, families, and carers.
• The service planned care to meet the needs of local people, took account of children and young people’s individual needs, and made it easy for people to give feedback. People could access the service when they needed it and did not have to wait too long for advice or treatment.
• Leaders ran services well using reliable information systems and supported staff to develop their skills. Staff understood the service’s vision and values, and how to apply them in their work. Staff felt respected, supported and valued. They were focused on the needs of children and young people receiving care. Staff were clear about their roles and accountabilities. The service engaged well with children, young people, and the community to plan and manage services and all staff were committed to improving services continually.

Updated 10 October 2022

This service had not previously been inspected or rated. We rated it as good. See the summary above for details.