Balfour Medical Centre

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 that people’s care, treatment and support achieved good outcomes and promoted a good quality of life, based on the best available evidence. At our last assessment, we rated this key question Inadequate. At this assessment, the rating has changed to Good. This meant people’s outcomes were consistently good, and people’s feedback confirmed this. During our assessment of this key question, we found staff, teams and services worked in a positive way to improve patient outcomes. The practice worked with other care providers to support patients whose circumstances may make them vulnerable. Patient’s needs were assessed, and staff would actively refer patients to social prescribing for support with their wellbeing and social issues and patients with communication needs were supported. Patient consent was sought appropriately.

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.

The practice made sure people’s care and treatment was effective by assessing and reviewing their health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them. Reception staff used digital flags within the care records system to highlight any specific individual needs, such as the requirement for longer appointments or for a translator to be present. Staff checked people’s health, care, and wellbeing needs during health reviews. Clinical staff used standard templates for primary care which included standard guidance and prompts for the clinicians when they were conducting care reviews to support the review of people’s wider health and wellbeing. Staff could refer people with social needs, such as those experiencing social isolation or housing difficulties, to a social prescriber via their primary care network (PCN).

The service planned and delivered people’s care and treatment with them, including what was important and mattered to them. They did this in line with legislation and current evidence-based good practice and standards. The practice had systems and processes in place to ensure staff were up to date with national guidance, evidence-based good practice and legislation. Our review of clinical records showed that people received care, treatment and support that was evidence based and in line with national guidance. The practice held monthly clinical education sessions for all clinical staff and GPs met daily to discuss urgent clinical concerns. Regular clinical audits were undertaken which demonstrated care was provided in line with national guidance.

The practice worked well across teams and services to support people. There were effective systems for sharing information with staff and other health and social care professionals such as palliative care team to support patients. This included regular multidisciplinary meetings. The practice worked with other services to ensure continuity of care, including where clinical tasks were delegated to other services.

The service supported people to manage their health and wellbeing to 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. We saw posters and leaflets throughout the practice waiting area and, on the website, advising patients on health and wellbeing topics. Staff supported national priorities and initiatives to improve population health, including smoking cessation and tackling obesity. Staff focused on identifying risks to patients’ health and were able to refer patients to social prescribing teams. Social prescribers worked with other professionals to connect patients to a variety of services to meet their social, emotional and practical needs. This helped patients to improve their health and wellbeing.

The practice routinely monitored people’s care and treatment to continuously improve it. Clinical audits were carried out to improve outcomes for patients. Leaders held regular clinical meetings to discuss and share learnings and outcomes from the audits. Although the practice had not met national targets for screening and immunisations, there had been an improvement since the previous inspection. Clinical staff had identified the relevant patients, and they were aware of the preferences of these individual patients. There was evidence that this group of patients were contacted regularly by practice staff and their details were shared with other appropriate services.

The practice told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment. Staff understood and applied legislation relating to consent. Capacity and consent were clearly recorded. Do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (DNACPR) decisions were appropriate and were made in line with relevant legislation. The practice had an appropriate chaperone policy in place and patients with this individual need, were offered a chaperone. Chaperone posters were on display at the practice. Staff who carried out chaperone duties were trained for the role and had received a disclosure and barring (DBS) check.