Balance Street Practice

On this page

• Overview
• Assessing needs
• Delivering evidence-based care and treatment
• How staff, teams and services work together
• Supporting people to live healthier lives
• Monitoring and improving outcomes
• Consent to care and treatment

We looked for evidence staff involved people in decisions about their care and treatment and provided them with advice and support. Staff regularly reviewed people’s care and worked with other services to achieve this. At our last assessment, we rated this key question as Good. At this assessment, the rating remains the same.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

We did not look at Assessing needs during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

We did not look at Delivering evidence-based care and treatment during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

We did not look at How staff, teams and services work together during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

The service always supported people to manage their health and wellbeing to fully maximise their independence, choice and control. The service supported people to live healthier lives and where possible, reduce their future needs for care and support.

Staff focused on identifying risks to people’s health, including those in the last 12 months of their lives and those with caring responsibilities. To support this work, the practice employed a care co-ordinator and a care home co-ordinator. Their social prescriber supported local community groups, such as the fibromyalgia group based at the Heath Community Centre, which helped to embed the clinical team within established and trusted community networks.

Staff supported national public health priorities, including smoking cessation and adult weight management. They also referred people to Staffordshire County Council’s Everyone Health service to further this work. Unverified data provided by the provider showed that 96% of smokers had been offered smoking cessation support. This was above the target of 90%. It also showed that 88% of people with chronic disease had been provided with smoking advice.

Feedback received by the CQC as part of this assessment showed people felt their referrals were handled efficiently and appropriately followed up. They reported prompt access to scans, blood tests, cancer investigations, physiotherapy and orthotic appointments, often within a few days. There was high satisfaction from people with long-term conditions or people with complex needs. People with chronic conditions such as mental health needs, cancer and fertility difficulties reported high-quality, ongoing support.

The service fully embraced the Neighbourhood Health model and used resources from the local Primary Care Network (PCN) to deliver high-impact, preventative care at scale. For example, the PCN had successfully secured £100,000 in Local Improvement Framework (LIF) funding to launch a community obesity programme. This would target 35–54 year-olds living in deprived areas with long-term conditions and break down rigid clinical pathways. Through the integration of clinical lifestyle medicine with Burton and District Mind (mental health coaching) and Everyone Active (physical activity), they aimed to address the root socio-economic causes of health inequalities.

Balance Street Practice's clinical lead and the local PCN were key partners in a £3 million funding award from Sport England.This project focused on place-based working in Uttoxeter and Burton-on-Trent to co-produce solutions that dismantled the deeper barriers stopping people from being physically active.

In September 2025, the practice successfully hosted a community wellbeing event and the clinical lead supported a PCN led BEAT event. 'BEAT is an acronym used as a symptom checker and diagnostic tool to help to identify key signs of heart failure to improve early diagnosis and treatment of heart failure. By bringing healthcare directly into the Uttoxeter community, their integrated team facilitated proactive health engagement, gathered vital patient feedback, and provided accessible health and wellbeing support. The practice had gathered feedback from people who had attended the event which was extremely positive.

The practice had carried out a survey of people with diabetes to monitor the uptake of diabetic retinopathy screening. The survey highlighted that 42% of patients were not routinely invited, and many were travelling 30 minutes for care. In response to this, they identified this screening was provided at a local practice in Uttoxeter and actively navigated people to this local option to improve uptake and convenience.

The service monitored all people’s care and treatment to continuously improve it. They ensured that outcomes were positive and consistent, and that they fully met both clinical expectations and the expectations of people themselves.

The service actively fostered peer-support and patient education to empower people with diabetes. The service had hosted the Diabetes UK Patient Network and held regular face-to-face meetings at the practice. At the last meeting, 2 of the practice’s diabetic nurses attended this initiative to improve foot care through a targeted community questionnaire. Staff undertook specialist training and recently launched 2 test and learn group clinics to provide innovative, shared-learning environments for people with long-term conditions. Feedback from people was very positive.

The service met national targets for the uptake of childhood immunisations. All of the indictors for childhood immunisations were above the national target of 90% of which 4 indicators, at 99.1%, were above the WHO target of 95%. Data from 2024 showed that the number of women who had received adequate cervical screening within the last 3.5 years aged 25 to 49 years old was 79% and 80% for people aged 50 to 64 years old. The service provided us with up-to-date, unverified data which showed the uptake rate had increased to 84% and 97% respectively. Through surveys, the practice identified that embarrassment and trauma were primary barriers to attendance for this screening. In response to this, the practice was evaluating the promotion of home testing kits and implementing direct GP endorsements to safely encourage uptake.

The service performed better than the England average in relation to several cancer screening programmes, including screening for breast and bowel. The practice actively sought out health inequalities through patient surveys and used the data to drive immediate operational changes. For example, a patient survey into breast screening uptake revealed that 56% of non-attenders failed to go to the Queen's Hospital Burton, citing transport and accessibility issues. In response to this, the practice successfully advocated with the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton to reinstate the mobile screening bus at Uttoxeter Leisure Centre which removed this barrier.

We did not look at Consent to care and treatment during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.