Background to this inspection
Updated
24 July 2018
The registered provider, Bexley Group Practice, provides NHS general practice services at its main location of the same name located at 76 - 78 Upper Wickham Lane, Welling, Kent DA16 3HQ. The practice has a branch surgery at 24 Station Rd, Belvedere, Kent, DA17 6JJ. We visited both sites as part of this inspection. The practice website is .
Bexley Group Practice is CQC registered to provide the regulated activities of Treatment of disease, disorder or injury, Diagnostic and screening procedures, Maternity and midwifery services and Family planning.
Bexley Group Practice has a patient population of 11722. Its deprivation decile is 7 according to the Index of multiple deprivation score, with 1 being most deprived and 10 being least deprived.
The clinical staff team include six GPs providing a combined total of 5.5 whole time equivalent GPs; an advanced nurse practitioner, two practice nurses, a healthcare assistant, a phlebotomist and a clinical pharmacist. The nursing team provides 2.6 whole time equivalent nurses.
The non-clinical staff are a practice manager, a care coordinator, two medical secretaries, and a team of 19 reception and administrative staff.
Patients can book appointments on the same day or up to two weeks in advance. The practice also offers a walk-in service on Monday to Thursday mornings at its main site between 8am and 10.30am, and at its branch site to the first 11 patients.
Updated
24 July 2018
This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection November 2017 – Inadequate)
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 comprehensive inspection at Bexley Group Practice on 15 May 2018 to check that the regulatory breaches in their previous inspection had been addressed, and to consider whether sufficient improvements had been made to bring the practice out of special measures. At this inspection we found significant improvements had been made. Overall the practice is now rated as good. I am taking this practice out of special measures.
At this inspection we found:
- The provider had addressed all the issues that led to the breaches of regulations at their last inspection
- The provider had moved its main practice location, and closed two of its three branch locations.
- 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 patients in their treatment and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
- Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that there had been improvements in them being able to access care when they needed it. However, some patients still felt there were further improvements needed in accessing appointments and waiting for appointments.
- There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.
- The practice had greatly improved their identification and offer of support to people with caring responsibilities
- The practice provided regular health promotion poster campaigns and talks to people in the local community, which has raised awareness and increased diagnosis of the diseases focussed on during their campaigns.
The areas where the provider should make improvements are:
- Review arrangements for the audit of clinical decision making for non-medical prescribers.
Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice