The Care Quality Commission
  • Community
  • Community healthcare service

Archived: Brook Brixton

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

374 Brixton Road, London, SW9 7AW (020) 7787 5000

Provided and run by:
Brook Young People

Important: The provider of this service changed. See old profile

All Inspections

26 July to 3 August 2022

During a routine inspection

Brook Brixton provides confidential sexual health services, support and advice to young people under the age of 21 and up to 25 for those with additional needs. It is recognised as a level 2 contraception and sexual health service (CASH). It works to meet the needs of local communities, in conjunction with other services when required.

This service had not yet been inspected or rated. We rated it as good because:

  • The service had enough staff to care for children and young people and keep them safe. Staff had training in key skills, understood how to protect children and young people from abuse, and managed safety well. The service controlled infection risk well. Staff assessed risks to children and young people, acted on them and kept good care records. They managed medicines well. The service also managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them.
  • Staff provided good care and treatment and advised them on pain relief when required. For example, before attending the clinic for insertion of an intrauterine device. Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service and made sure staff were competent. Staff worked well together for the benefit of children and young people, advised them and their families on how to lead healthier lives, supported them to make decisions about their care, and had access to good information. Key services were available seven days a week.
  • Staff treated children and young people with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, took account of their individual needs, and helped them understand sexual health. They provided emotional support to children and young people, families, and carers.
  • The service planned care to meet the needs of local people, took account of children and young people’s individual needs, and made it easy for people to give feedback. People could access the service when they needed it and did not have to wait too long for advice or treatment.
  • Leaders ran services well using reliable information systems and supported staff to develop their skills. Staff understood the service’s vision and values, and how to apply them in their work. Staff felt respected, supported and valued. They were focused on the needs of children and young people receiving care. Staff were clear about their roles and accountabilities. The service engaged well with children, young people, and the community to plan and manage services and all staff were committed to improving services continually.

12 December 2016

During a routine inspection

Brook Brixton is part of Brook Young People, which provides sexual health services, support, and advice to young people under the age of 25. Brook Brixton (Brook Young People) is the registered provider for Brook Brixton. The service is jointly funded by the London Borough of Lambeth and the London Borough of Southwark.

They provide the following services:

  • Caring for adults under 65 years of age
  • Caring for children up to 18 years of age

They provide the following regulated activities:

  • Family planning
  • Treatment of disease, disorder or injury
  • Diagnostic and screening procedures

As part of the inspection, we spoke with young people attending clinics, spoke with staff working at the service, and viewed documentation of six client care and treatment records.

Our findings are as follows:

  • Staff were encouraged and supported to report incidents. The system for escalating incidents was simple and streamlined, and actions and outcomes were shared with staff.
  • The service had strong safeguarding systems in place to protect children and young adults. Staff were able to identify and report safeguarding concerns quickly and there was good collaborate working with local support services to ensure children and young adults received the right care. Care and treatment was based on national guidelines and the service participated in national and local audits, using outcomes to improve the quality of their service.
  • The environment was visibly clean and equipment had been tested in line with appropriate guidelines. There was a good selection of personal protective equipment available for staff to use.
  • Medicines were managed well and good patient group directives were in place.
  • Records were kept safe and there were good notes to provide a clear pathway of care for the young person.
  • Consent was monitored and managed well. Staff were provided with training and understood when to apply Gillick competence and Fraser guidelines to those young people under 16 years of age.
  • The service was accessible at suitable times and several locations, which meant young people, could be seen quickly.
  • The service recognised waiting times were an issue and had introduced a texting queue system to help alleviate the problem.
  • Brook Brixton worked well with the local borough and other sexual health services to offer the best care for young people.
  • The service acted upon local issues, which concerned young people and did their utmost to understand and provide the best care. For example, staff had participated in a safeguarding course aimed at understanding the culture within ‘youth gangs’ and the difficulties young people experienced.
  • Young people were involved in shaping and evolving the service. There was a participation group where young people met regularly and Brook provided volunteering opportunities for young people.
  • Young people had good access to a selection of information and were able to ask questions through their website.

We saw examples of outstanding practice:

  • There were robust safeguarding systems to protect vulnerable young people. Staff knew how to escalate concerns, ensuring the best supportive services were used to help young people.
  • The service continuously monitored their safeguarding practices to make sure they kept vulnerable young people safe.
  • Staff were kind and caring and placed young people’s health and wellbeing at the heart of their service. They listened to their clients and were prepared to make changes and put in place ideas raised by young people.

However:

  • Staff shortages meant 61 shifts were unfilled for the reporting period of July 2016 to October 2016. There was a national shortage of sexual health nurses and staffing was placed as a high risk on local and corporate risk registers.