The Brook Surgery Ltd

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Brook Surgery Limited on 05 September 2019 as part of our ratings inspection programme for Independent Health Providers.

The service has two registered managers, both of whom are doctors at the service. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the CQC 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 Brook Surgery is a private doctor service based in the Golders Green area of North London. The service offers GP appointments, home visits, healthcare management, child vaccinations, travel vaccine clinic, flu vaccine clinic, well woman clinic, cryotherapy, healthcare screening and a private dispensary.

We received 36 completed care Quality Commission (CQC) comment cards, all of which were positive. Patients described the service as excellent, and referred to professional and efficient staff who were consistently attentive, friendly and considerate. There were no negative comments.

Our key findings were :

• There were systems in place to safeguard children and vulnerable adults from abuse and staff we spoke with knew how to identify and report safeguarding concerns. All staff had been trained to a level appropriate to their role.
• The service had systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the service learned from them and improved their processes.
• The service carried out staff checks on recruitment, including checks of professional registration where relevant.
• Clinical staff we spoke with were aware of current evidence-based guidance and they had the skills, knowledge and experience to carry out their roles.
• There was evidence of quality improvement, including clinical audit.
• Consent procedures were in place and these were in line with legal requirements.
• Systems were in place to protect personal information about patients. The service was registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
• Patients were able to access care and treatment from the clinic within an appropriate timescale for their needs.
• Information about services, fees and membership options as well as the complaints process were available in the waiting area and online.
• The service had proactively gathered feedback from patients.
• Governance arrangements were in place. There were clear responsibilities, roles and systems of accountability to support good governance and management.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Review systems used to manage personnel records to ensure managers can be assured all required checks are in place and required mandatory training is up to date.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP
Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care