The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

Forest Group Practice

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Bury Road, Brandon, IP27 0UB (01842) 810206

Provided and run by:
Swan Surgery & Forest Surgery

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

Date of Assessment: 12 October 2026. Forest Group Practice is a GP practice and delivers services to approximately 7500 people under a contract held with NHS England. According to the latest available data, the ethnic make-up of the service area is approximately 95% White, 0.9% Asian, 2% Mixed, 1.1% Black and 0.9% Other. Information published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities shows deprivation within the service population group is in the 5th decile (5 of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the service population is relative to others.

This was a focused assessment. We undertook this assessment due to the length of time since our last assessment. We assessed 12 quality statements from across all 5 key questions. 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.

Staff kept facilities clean and maintained equipment appropriately to ensure people were kept safe. They assessed and managed the risk of infection well and took steps to control the risk of it spreading. There were enough staff with the right skills, qualifications and experience. Staff prescribed, monitored, stored and administered medicines well.

Staff supported people to live healthier lives, monitoring their care and treatment to ensure they received positive and consistent outcomes. Staff followed the latest evidence and good practice when providing care and treatment.

Staff treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion, and respected their privacy and dignity.

People could access care, treatment and support when they needed it. Leaders and staff were alert to discrimination and inequality that could disadvantage groups of people who used the service and sought ways to address any barriers.

The service had a clear vision and strategy, which considered the needs of the people who used their service and the wider community. Staff understood their individual roles and responsibilities. Leaders accounted for the actions, behaviours and performance of staff through clear and effective governance processes.

31 March 2017

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Forest Group Practice on 8 August 2016. The overall rating for the practice was rated as Good overall and good for providing effective, responsive, caring and well-led services. The practice was rated as requires improvement for providing safe services. The full comprehensive report on the August 2016 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Forest Group Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

This inspection was desk-based review carried out on 31 March 2017 to confirm that the practice had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breaches in regulations that we identified in our previous inspection on 8 August 2016. This report covers our findings in relation to those requirements and also additional improvements made since our last inspection.

Overall the practice is rated as Good. However, on the inspection on 8 August 2016, there were areas of practice where the provider needed to make improvements.

We found that the provider must:

  • Ensure that the actions identified in the fire risk assessment are completed and that the practice conducts regular fire drill and formal awareness training. Ensure the fire exit that is accessed through a treatment room has clear signage so that staff and patients are aware.

In addition we found the practice should:

  • Develop a system to ensure that regular audits are undertaken to monitor quality and performance and to encourage improvement.
  • Review the practice training log to improve management oversight. When requested the practice had not been able to produce all the information easily.
  • Review the system and ensure all clinical staff immunisations are recorded.
  • Embed the new system to manage infection control monitoring and audit.

At this inspection we found that;

  • Actions identified in the fire risk assessment were completed. Fire drills and fire training had been conducted. A fire exit that was accessed through a treatment room had clear signage to ensure staff and patients were aware of the exit.
  • The practice had developed a system to ensure that regular audits were undertaken to monitor quality and performance and to encourage improvement. We saw evidence of audits having been commenced.
  • The practice had reviewed the way it managed staff training and had implemented a staff training policy. An audit of staff training had been undertaken with individual training logs for each member of staff.
  • The practice had implemented a staff vaccination policy and was in the process of recording all staff immunisations.
  • The practice was in the process of embedding the new system to manage infection control with audits undertaken on a rolling cycle.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

  • Continue to embed the systems in place to ensure regular audits are undertaken and reviewed to monitor quality and performance and to encourage improvement.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

8 August 2016

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Forest Group Practice on 8 August 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

  • There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
  • The practice used a range of assessments to manage the risks to patients; however, these needed to be improved.
  • Practice staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance.
  • Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge, and experience to deliver effective care and treatment. However, the management oversight of the training undertaken needed to be improved.
  • Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity, and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
  • Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns.
  • Patients said they found it relatively easy to make an appointment with a named GP.
  • The practice premises restricted their ability to further improve some aspects of the service. For example, the reception area was small and patient confidentiality was compromised, the practice played a radio to help the situation.
  • There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on. The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

The areas where the provider must make changes are;

  • Ensure that the actions identified in the fire risk assessment are completed and that the practice conducts regular fire drill and formal awareness training. Ensure that fire exit that is accessed through a treatment room has clear signage so that staff and patients are aware.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

  • Develop a system to ensure that regular audits are undertaken to monitor quality and performance and to encourage improvement.

  • Review the practice training log to improve management oversight. When requested the practice had not been able to produce all the information easily.

  • Review the system and ensure all clinical staff immunisations are recorded.

  • Embed the new system to manage infection control monitoring and audit.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice