Halcyon Medical Centre

Updated 11 December 2024

Halcyon Medical Centre is an NHS GP practice located in Birmingham city centre. Information published by Office for Health Improvement and Disparities shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the 4th decile (4 of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice population is relative to others. At the time of our assessment there were 17,428 patients registered with the practice (39% were White, 25% Asian and 23% Black). Most of the patient population are young working age people and university students. There are also large Chinese and LGBT+ communities locally.

We carried out an announced comprehensive assessment of all 5 key questions (Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-Led) between 7 February 2025 and 21 February 2025. This assessment was carried out to provide a rating and assess the quality of services being delivered as this practice had not been assessed since registration in May 2023.

We found that safety of people, staff and facilities was a priority for everyone in this practice. There was a strong learning culture, people could raise concerns and managers investigated incidents thoroughly. The workforce was strongly patient focused, understood the needs of their population and developed services responsive to their needs. There was emphasis on quality assurance and a comprehensive program of audit. There were enough staff with the right skills, qualifications and experience to maintain high-quality care. Staff were caring, kind and developed themselves and their services for the benefit of people. The practice had a diverse population and staff treated everyone as individuals, understood their preferences and supported people to make informed decisions about their care. People could access the practice easily and received fair and equal care and treatment. There was an open, accessible and proactive leadership team that made positive changes to the practice and had a clear plan for future developments with the aim of improving the quality of the patient experience.

Updated 11 December 2024

People’s feedback that we reviewed as part of this assessment was mixed about their experience of this practice. The latest GP National Patient Survey showed that people’s satisfaction with their overall experience, having their needs met and the ease of contacting their GP on the telephone, was lower than the national average. However, people’s satisfaction with contacting the practice vis the NHS App was above the national average. CQC had received some negative feedback from people. On-line, both the Birmingham Healthwatch and NHS websites had an average rating of 3 stars for this practice. Some of the positive comments across both websites mentioned getting an appointment easily, being referred quickly and friendly, helpful staff; negative comments concerned access and difficulties registering with the practice. Feedback from people we spoke to as part of the assessment was entirely positive.

The Friends and Family Test (FFT) is used by NHS services to assess people’s satisfaction. The latest data provided by the practice for the year 2024 showed 96% of responses rated the experience of the practice as good or very good. The practice provided unverified data from their own patient survey (3/1/2025) which showed 91% out of 100 respondents rated their overall experience as good or very good. Representatives from the Patient Participation Group (PPG) told us the regular health education sessions were very useful and the practice engaged with them well.