The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

Solihull Healthcare Partnership

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Grove Surgery, 3 Grove Road, Solihull, West Midlands, B91 2AG (0121) 705 1105

Provided and run by:
Solihull Healthcare Partnership

All Inspections

11 April 2022 to 26 April 2022

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced inspection at Solihull Healthcare Partnership on between 11 April 2022 and 26 April 2022. Overall, the practice is rated as Good.

The ratings for each key question are as follows:

Safe - Good

Effective - Good

Caring - Good

Responsive – Requires Improvement

Well-led - Good

The practice had not previously been inspected having formed out of a merger of seven GP practices in the Solihull area.

The full reports for the inspections of the former individual practices have been archived on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we carried out this inspection

This inspection was a comprehensive inspection of a new provider and to follow up on potential risks relating to access.

How we carried out the inspection

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 inspections differently.

This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site. This was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements.

This included:

  • Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing
  • Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system and discussing findings with the provider
  • Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider
  • Requesting evidence from the provider
  • A short 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.

We have rated this practice as Good overall

We found that:

  • The partnership provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm. Staff were aware of systems and processes to follow if they had any concerns.
  • Staff worked hard and had high ambitions for developing a resilient and sustainable service following the merger of seven practices in 2019, despite significant challenges with COVID-19 and local pressures on the service.
  • The partnership had been open and honest about challenges they faced and worked with stakeholders in order to drive improvement. The partnership obtained external support to develop effective systems and processes for example, in bringing together and developing centralised functions.
  • We found the premises were well maintained, appeared clean and tidy and had appropriate infection prevention and control arrangements in place. The partnership had made effective use of the multiple practice sites and had made adaptations to minimise the risks to patients and staff during COVID-19.
  • Our clinical searches found patients medicines were safely managed. The partnership was supported by a pharmacy team who carried out regular audits to further support the safety of medicines prescribed.
  • The partnership was open in learning from incidents, events and complaints and ensured learning was shared among the staff team.
  • All staff had access to regular learning time events and training updates.
  • Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs. Our review of clinical records found effective systems were in place for follow up and monitoring of patients with long term conditions.
  • There were plans in place to safely manage patients during pandemic pressures and help manage any backlogs in the recovery period.
  • The partnership had a programme of quality improvement and development in place, which included service restructuring and systems for monitoring and improving patient care.
  • Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
  • The practice adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients reported difficulties accessing care and treatment in a timely way. However, the practice had worked with stakeholders, developed a comprehensive action plan and were making good progress to improve access for their practice population.
  • As a relatively new partnership the practice was working hard in developing a single service and new multi-disciplinary team structures with strong clinical and managerial leadership.
  • The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.

Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:

  • Provide safeguarding vulnerable adults training at an appropriate level for all staff relevant to their role.
  • Improve uptake of learning disability reviews and cervical screening uptake.
  • Continue to develop centralised HR information so that it provides clear and accurate staff information for management and monitoring purposes.
  • Reduce back log for summarising new patient notes.
  • Raise awareness among relevant staff of support available for carers.
  • Continue to implement the action plan to improve access and monitor impact of changes made.

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

17 May 2016

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Bernays & Whitehouse Group Practice, Grove Surgery, Solihull on 17 May 2016. Overall the practice is rated as outstanding.

There are two surgery locations that form the practice; these consist of Grove Surgery and their sister practice Shirley Medical Centre. There are approximately 20,000 patients of various ages registered and cared for across the practice and as the practice has one patient list, patients can be seen by staff at both surgery sites. Systems and processes are shared across both sites. During the inspection we visited both locations. As the locations have separate CQC registrations we have produced two reports. However where systems and data reflect both practices the reports will contain the same information.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

  • The practice used innovative and proactive methods to improve patient outcomes, working with other local providers to share best practice. For example, through discussions at clinical meetings the practice had setup alerts for possible serious conditions, to support the GP with their examinations.
  • The practice worked closely with other organisations and with the local community in planning how services were provided to ensure that they meet patients’ needs. For example, the practice offered an in house counselling service.
  • The practice had defined and embedded systems in place to keep people safeguarded from abuse. There was a system in place for reporting and recording significant events and staff we spoke with were aware of their responsibilities to raise and report concerns, incidents and near misses.
  • Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
  • Clinical audits were carried out to demonstrate quality improvement and to improve patient care and treatment; results were circulated and discussed in the practice.
  • Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment
  • Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
  • Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns.
  • All opportunities for learning from internal and external incidents were maximised.
  • The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs. Feedback from patients about their care was consistently positive.
  • The limitations of the building posed difficulties for the practice, but this was well managed. Car parking was limited due to the residential area the practice was situated in.
  • There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
  • The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.
  • The practice had strong and visible clinical and managerial leadership and governance arrangements.
  • Staff worked with multidisciplinary teams to understand and meet the range and complexity of patients’ needs. We saw evidence that multidisciplinary team meetings took place every six weeks. Staff spoke positively about the team and about working at the practice.

We saw several areas of outstanding practice including:

  • The practice has set up a dementia café every three months to support patients and their carers at their sister practice Shirley Medical Centre with the support of the patient participation group (PPG). The practice opened this up to the local community and had a positive response and is now looking to develop this further, with the support of local agencies and the practice staff who are dementia friends.
  • The practice has started a weight clinic on a Saturday morning with an open invitation to all patients. We saw evidence to confirm effective weight loss had been achieved.
  • As a result of incidents in outside of the practice that had to come light through appraisals and discussions at clinical meetings the practice decided to set up alerts that highlight possible ‘serious conditions. The practice has produced specific leaflets for patients so they are fully involved and aware of the possible complications and the importance of seeking medical help should any of the symptoms appear. For example, Cauda Equina. This is a rare but very significant and serious complication of sciatica/back pain which can result in permanent nerve damage.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice