A new inspection of healthcare services at Burnham-On-Sea and Berrow Medical Centre has rated them as ‘good’ – a year after the centre was placed into special measures and rated ‘inadequate’.
The new Care Quality Commission (CQC) report rates the servce as ‘good’ for being ‘safe, effective, caring, responsive to people’s needs’ and being ‘well-led’ following an announced comprehensive CQC visit that took place in September.
The inspection found ‘significant improvements’ have been made since the last inspection visit in November 2022 and inspection report of January 2023, where previous urgent conditions were applied to the practice when it was rated as inadequate.
During the latest CQC visit, inspectors have found:
- The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
- Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
- Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
- Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
- The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.
The improvement in quality-of-care ratings, follows the integration of Burnham and Berrow Medical Centre into Symphony Healthcare Services in April this year.
Jon Adams, Business Practice Manager for Burnham and Berrow Medical Centre, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: ”We’re really delighted with the latest inspection ratings, and it’s great to see that everyone’s hard work within the practice can be seen in the results.”
“Over the last year, we have worked incredibly hard to make significant improvements at the practice; we have introduced new systems and processes such as ‘AskMyGP’ to enable patients to contact the practice more easily, we’ve recruited additional clinicians, including two new GPs and additional nurse practitioners, introduced a new patient recall system, relaunched our Patient Participation Group, and we’ve supported additional training and development for our teams.”
“We’ve seen a lot of changes over the past year, and despite the huge challenges that the practice has faced, we have been heartened by the support that we have received from the practice team, our Patient Participation Group, our patients, health and care colleagues, and the local community and we are truly thankful.”
“We’re very proud of the team at Burnham and Berrow who have approached every new challenge with enthusiasm and commitment and we’re now excited at what the future may bring.”
Since the last inspection report, the practice team say have also introduced a number of new ways to improve the support and care for people with long-term health conditions, one of the core areas of improvement identified in the previous inspection report.
Lead Nurse, Lucy Brotherton, who has been leading on the project, explains: “We know how important it is to support our patients who have long-term health conditions, to stay well as much as possible.”
“Over the last few months, we have introduced a new birthday recall system, that proactively contacts patients to offer an annual health review and we have also recently introduced group consultations for patients with diabetes; these sessions offer information, advice and support in a friendly group environment.”
“We’ve also spent time on developing new skills and knowledge, where three of our practice nurses have recently completed a specialist nursing diploma in caring for long-term conditions.”
“Over the coming months we’re committed to the ongoing development and further improvement of our healthcare services at the practice and also in the local area by working closely with healthcare partners.”
Patient Participation Group Chair Christopher Smith adds: “The Burnham & Berrow Medical Centre PPG is really excited by the improvements being made in the practice and recognised by the CQC. This reflects the hard work by everyone to restore trust in the medical centre.”
“The PPG has brought patients and staff together at two open days to answer questions and foster community. Well done to everyone in the practice.”
If you are interested in joining the Patient Participation Group, please contact the practice. The full inspection report can be found on the CQC website.
