CQC inspectors find Concord Medical Centre in Bristol to be Outstanding

The Care Quality Commission has found the quality of care provided by the Concord Medical Centre at Little Stoke, Bristol to be Outstanding following an inspection in January.

Under CQC’s programme of inspections, all of England’s GP practices are being given a rating according to whether they are safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led.

The inspection team, which included a CQC Inspector, a GP specialist advisor and a CQC Inspection Manager rated the services provided by the Concord Medical Centre as Outstanding for older patients, families, children and young people and people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable. A full report of the inspection has been published today.

Ruth Rankine, Deputy Chief Inspector of General Practice, said:

“We found that Concord Medical Centre was providing an outstanding service to the people it supported. We were struck by the extent to which the service places its patients and the staff it supports at the heart of everything it does. While this should be standard practice across the sector, we do not see it often enough – and this, amongst other good practice found, is why this service deserves the outstanding rating which has been awarded.”

"The GPs, nurses and all the practice staff together deserve the credit for this Outstanding service."

The surgery in Braydon Avenue serves more than 14,000 patients.

The report highlights a number of areas of outstanding practice, including:

• The practice employed a full-time mental health nurse consultant who had improved faster patient access for mental health treatment and reduced patient referrals by 85%. This mental health nurse consultant also had an important role in working closely with health visitors and GPs to help prevent families from reaching crisis point and needing external intervention.
• The practice had recently developed a carers’ group in September 2014 working with the Carers’ Association to ensure patients received the most up to date support and guidance. The practice arranged with the carers association to see carers (may not necessarily be registered patients of the practice) once a week at the practice.
• Leaders motivated staff to succeed. There was a staff recognition award held twice a year for three staffing areas; nursing, administration and reception. The recognised member of staff would have their picture taken and was celebrated in the patient newsletters. This was one instance of many that contributed to an extremely cohesive and motivated team.

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