Background to this inspection
Updated
21 July 2021
St George Health Centre is located in a residential area on the east side of Bristol and is situated within the NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). The practice provides primary care services to approximately 23,000 registered patients. According to the latest available data, the ethnic make-up of the practice area is 84.5% White, 6% Black, 4.9% Asian, and 3.6% Mixed.
Information published by Public Health England shows that deprivation within the practice population group is recorded a score of 5, on a scale of 1-10. The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice population is relative to others.
The practice has two premises: St George Health Centre, Bellevue Road, St George, BS5 7PH and a branch surgery at 22 Lodgeside Ave, Bristol, BS15 1WW.
There is a team of eight GP partners and eight salaried GPs who provide cover at both practices. The practice has a team of nine nurses, eight Health Care Assistants and two pharmacists. The GPs are supported at the practice by a team of reception/administration staff with two practice managers at both locations.
Due to the enhanced infection prevention and control measures put in place since the pandemic and in line with the national guidance, most GP appointments were telephone consultations. If the GP needs to see a patient face-to-face then the patient is offered a choice of either the main GP location or the branch surgery.
The practice has a Primary Medical Services (PMS) contract to deliver health care services. A PMS contract is a locally agreed alternative to the standard General Medical Services contract used when services are agreed locally with a practice which may include additional services beyond the standard contract.
The practice has opted out of providing a full Out of Hours service to its own patients. Patients can access an Out of Hours GP service by calling NHS 111. Information about how to contact the out of hours service was available in the waiting area and on the practice website.
Updated
21 July 2021
We carried out an announced review at St George Health Centre on 17 June 2021. The practice is rated as good overall and for safe.
Following our previous inspection on 5 March 2019, the practice was rated Good overall for all key questions except safe. The practice was rated as requires improvement for providing safe services.
The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for St George Health Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk
Why we carried out this review
This review was to follow-up on areas for improvement identified on 5 March 2019 without undertaking a site visit, which were:
Breach of Regulation 12 HSCA (RA) Regulations 2014 Safe care and treatment
The practice did not adequately ensure that care and treatment were provided in a safe way for service users.
Specifically, we found:
- On the day of our inspection, not all emergency medicines were in date and ready to use, and there was no risk assessment to support that the practice had assessed they did not require, to hold paediatric pads available for use with the defibrillator.
- There was no evidence two clinicians had received such training in Mental Capacity Act or competence to give consent.
- There was no clear system of clinical supervision and support available for nursing staff.
- There was no evidence that patients being seen by a health care assistant as part of a mental health service had been assessed by a clinician as being appropriate to be seen by the health care assistant.
How we carried out the inspection/review
Throughout the pandemic, CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, taking into account the circumstances arising as a result of the pandemic, and in order to reduce risk, we have conducted our reviews differently.
We requested evidence from the provider and reviewed the information provided, without undertaking a site visit.
Our findings
We based our judgement of the quality of care at this service 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.
Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.
Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP
Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care