Balfour Road Surgery

Updated 4 October 2018

Balfour Road Surgery is located in a residential area of the London Borough of Redbridge. The practice is located on the ground floor of a two-floor converted residential premises. There is limited parking on the streets nearest to the practice due to permit-only parking, however the practice does have spaces available for cars at the front and rear of the building. The nearest bus stop is approximately seven minutes’ walk from the practice.

There are approximately 6245 patients registered at the practice. Statistics show medium levels of income deprivation among the registered population. Information published by Public Health England rates the level of deprivation within the practice population group as five on a scale of one to ten. Level one represents the highest levels of deprivation and level ten the lowest. The registered population is higher than the national average for those aged between 14-18. Patients registered at the practice come from a variety of backgrounds including Asian, Western European, Eastern European and African Caribbean. Forty-six percent of patients have a long-standing health condition compared to the CCG average of 48%.

Care and treatment is delivered by four GPs (three female and one male) who deliver 21 clinical sessions weekly. There is two female part-time practice nurses (female) who deliver between four to six sessions weekly. Nine administrative and reception staff work at the practice and are led by a practice manager.

The practice reception opening times are:-

• 8:00am – 6:30pm (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday)
• 8:00am – 8:00pm (Tuesday)

Appointments are available during the following times:-

• 8:15am - 11:30am; 3:00pm - 6:00pm (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday Friday)
• 8:15am - 11:30am; 3:00pm - 6:00pm; 6:30pm – 7:45 (Tuesday)

Patients can book appointments in person, by telephone and online.

Patients requiring a GP outside of practice opening hours are advised to contact the NHS GP out of hours service on telephone number 111 or attend the local GP hub which is open until 8pm weekdays and between 9:00am and 6:00pm Saturday and Sunday.

The practice has a General Medical Services (GMS) contract. GMS contracts are nationally agreed between the General Medical Council and NHS England. The practice is registered to provide the following regulated activities:-

-Diagnostic and screening procedures

-Treatment of disease, disorder or injury

-Maternity and midwifery services

- Family Planning

Services at this practice have been commissioned by NHS Redbridge Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

Updated 4 October 2018

This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection Jan 2017 – Good)

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? - Good

We carried out an announced inspection at Balfour Road Surgery on 31 July 2018. We undertook this inspection as there had been a change in the partnership of the practice and as part of our continuous inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

• The practice had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes.
• The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• The practice was aware of the cultural make-up of its population and delivered care and services accordingly. An example of this was the practice offering non- porcine gelatine based child vaccines.
• Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
• There was a focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.
• The practice and PPG worked together to ensure that high quality care was delivered and could be accessed easily at the practice.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Consider sepsis refresher training for all staff.
• Improve online presence to enable patients to access and view services provided.
• Consider ways of how to improve the practice uptake of bowel screening for relevant patients.
• Obtain paediatric pulse oximeter for the emergency medicines kit.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGPChief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 4 October 2018

Updated 4 October 2018

Updated 4 October 2018

Updated 4 October 2018

Updated 4 October 2018

Updated 4 October 2018