Updated 19 March 2026
Date of Assessment: 30 March – 1 April 2026.
Balance Street Practice is a GP practice and delivers services to approximately 14,280 people under a contract held with NHS England.
According to the latest available data, the ethnic make-up of the service area is approximately 97.3% white, 1% mixed, 1% Asian, 0.4% black. and 0.2% other. Information published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the 8th decile (8 of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice 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 10 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. However, staff on zero hours contracts were not fully compliant with the required recruitment checks and, there was not always a full immunisation history, or risk assessment, of staff vaccinations against potential healthcare acquired infections.
Staff always supported people to live healthier lives, monitoring their care and treatment to ensure they received positive and consistent outcomes.
Staff were exceptional at treating people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity.
The service was exceptional at ensuring people could access the care, support and treatment they needed when they needed it. GPs maintained individual patient lists which ensured consistency and strong continuity of care.
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, the wider community and their staff. Staff understood their individual roles and responsibilities. Leaders accounted for the actions, behaviours and performance of staff through clear and effective governance processes.