The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

The Kings Norton Surgery

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

66 Redditch Road, Kings Norton, Birmingham, West Midlands, B38 8QS (0121) 458 2550

Provided and run by:
Rea Valley Health Partnership

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

Date of Assessment: 30 June 2026 to 27 August 2026. The Kings Norton Surgery is a GP practice and delivers a service to 16060 patients, under a contract held with NHS England. The service has branch sites at Ash Tree and Keynell Covert Surgery. This assessment was initiated as part our targeted review approach. However, concerns identified during the initial assessment indicated potential issues beyond the original scope of the targeted assessment. We therefore undertook a comprehensive assessment to fully understand people's experiences and the quality of care being provided.

 

The National General Practice Profiles states that the ethnic make-up of the service area is 76% White, 9% Asian, 6% Black, 6% Mixed and 2% Other. Information published by Office for Health Improvement and Disparities shows that deprivation within the service population group is in the 3rd decile (3 of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the service population is relative to others. This assessment considered the demographics of the people using the service, the context the service was working within and how this impacted service delivery. Where relevant, further commentary is provided in the quality statements section of this report.

 

The service had a good learning culture and people could raise concerns. Managers investigated incidents thoroughly. People were protected and kept safe. Staff understood and managed risks. The facilities and equipment met the needs of people, were clean and well-maintained and any risks mitigated. There were enough staff with the right skills, qualifications and experience. Managers made sure staff received training and regular appraisals to maintain high-quality care. Staff managed medicines well and involved people in planning any changes.

 

People were involved in assessments of their needs. Staff reviewed assessments taking account of people’s communication, personal and health needs. Care was based on latest evidence and good practice. Staff worked with all agencies involved in people’s care for the best outcomes and smooth transitions when moving services. Staff made sure people understood their care and treatment to enable them to give informed consent. When individuals lacked capacity, staff involved those who were important to them and made decisions in their best interests.

 

Patients were treated with kindness and compassion, felt truly respected and valued as individuals and this was reflected in a range of feedback collected as part of this inspection. We saw a variety of examples where staff took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and backgrounds in the provision of person-centred care. The service supported and promoted staff wellbeing.

 

People were involved in decisions about their care. The service provided information people could understand in a variety of languages. People knew how to give feedback and were confident the service took it seriously and acted on it. The service was easy to access and worked to eliminate discrimination. People received fair and equal care and treatment. The service worked to reduce health and care inequalities through training and feedback. People were involved in planning their care and understood options around choosing to withdraw or not receive care.

 

Leaders had established an inclusive, positive, learning and improvement culture and were driving improvements in outcomes for people who accessed services at The Kings Norton Surgery and wider communities. There were consistent examples of how an inclusive, supportive and collaborative leadership approach had driven improvements in safety, sustainability, care integration, meeting people's needs and addressing inequalities for people who used services alongside practice staff.

 

Governance and management systems enabled leaders to identify and act on information about risks performance and outcomes. Leaders drove continuous efforts to improve understanding of ways of working, including staff and people's experiences to proactively mitigate risk and improve care delivery. Leaders recognised their role as drivers of a strong safety culture, and this was visible within the service and throughout the inspection. Staff feedback during the inspection was positive with staff stating there was a supportive team-based culture and staff we spoke to were passionate about delivering a high-quality service.

27 February 2019

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out a focussed inspection at The Kings Norton Surgery on 27 February 2019. During our previous inspection in April 2018 we rated the practice as good for providing effective, caring, responsive and well-led services. Consequently, the practice was rated as good overall. However, we rated the practice requires improvement for providing safe services because:

  • The practice was unable to fully demonstrate care and treatment was provided in a safe way to patients. This included effective systems to mitigate risk for high risk medicines, prescription management and monitoring of Patient Group Directions (PGDs).

At this inspection, we found that the provider had satisfactorily addressed these areas.

We based our judgement of the quality of care at this service is on a combination of:

  • what we found when we inspected
  • information from our ongoing monitoring of data about services and
  • information from the provider, patients, the public and other organisations.

We have rated this practice as good overall.

We rated the practice as good for providing safe, services because:

  • The practice had reviewed its system for managing patients on high risk medicines to ensure it was effective.
  • Appropriate systems were in place to ensure emergency medicines were checked regularly including medical gasses.
  • There was a process in place to ensure Patient Group Directions (PGDs) were monitored and authorised by a practice representative.
  • There was a process in place to ensure prescription stationery was secure and their usage monitored.
  • The practice had made arrangements to ensure waste storage containers were kept securely.
  • The complaints process had been reviewed to ensure it contained the appropriate information for the patient should they wish to escalate their complaint.

Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGPChief Inspector of General Practice

24 April to 24 April 2018

During a routine inspection

This practice is rated as Good overall; we carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Kings Norton Surgery as part of our regular inspection programme on the 20th April 2018.

For this inspection the key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Requires Improvement

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? - Good

At this inspection we found:

  • The practice was unable to fully demonstrate effective systems to mitigate risk within the practice including high risk medicines, prescription management and monitoring of Patient Group Directions (PGDs).
  • The clinical team met daily to discuss any issues arising from the day including safety issue.
  • The practice demonstrated good infection control and safeguarding procedures.
  • The practice’s GP national survey results were higher than local and national averages. The practice demonstrated that they were consistent in their efforts to continue to improve in all areas,
  • The practice’s achievement in performance related indicators (Quality Outcomes Framework QOF) was higher than local and national averages.
  • The practice were involved in the local community and with domestic violence services, charities tackling local poverty and were able to demonstrate that they were able to care for the homeless, travellers and local boating communities.
  • There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.

The areas where the provider must make improvements are:

  • Ensure care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

  • Consider ways to ensure that checks of medical gases are documented and monitored.
  • Ensure policies and procedures are operating as intended and adhered to.
  • Consider ways to ensure that all complaint responses contain information in line with guidance.
  • Ensure that clinical waste is stored securely.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice

16 December 2016

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Kings Norton Surgery on 16 December 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Our key findings were as follows:

  • Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns and to report incidents and near misses. Information about safety was recorded, monitored, appropriately reviewed and addressed. The practice had good network meetings with the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to improve outcomes for patients.

  • Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance. The GPs each took responsibility in different areas and had regular clinical leads meetings to discuss concerns and share learning. They met daily to deal with immediate issues.

  • There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management.

  • Risks to patients were assessed and well managed although this was not always documented.

  • Patients described staff as professional, efficient and helpful.

However there was an area of practice where the provider should make improvements.

Action the provider should take to improve:

  • Ensure that systems are in place so that risk assessments and equipment checks are documented.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

5 March 2014

During a routine inspection

During our inspection we spoke with six patients face to face and communicated with two by email. We spoke with seven members of staff.

When patients received care or treatment they were asked for their consent and their wishes were listened to. One patient told us: "They always ask if it's alright." We found that when minor surgery had been carried out written consent had been requested from patients before the surgery had commenced.

We saw that patients' views and experiences were taken into account in the way the service was provided. The patients we spoke with said they were satisfied with their care. A patient told us: "I am satisfied with the care and they are always respectful." Patients received their medicines when they needed them.

Staff had received training in safeguarding children and vulnerable adults. They were aware of the appropriate agencies to refer safeguarding concerns to. This ensured that patients were protected from harm.

All areas of the practice that we visited were clean and well organised. Patients we spoke with told us the practice was always clean. There were effective systems in place to minimise the risk of infections from occurring.

The provider had a system in place for monitoring the quality of service provision. They regularly obtained opinions from patients about the standards of the services they received. This meant that on-going improvements could be made by practice staff.