Updated 31 March 2023
Birmingham Circumcision Services is the registered provider of the circumcision service.
The service is located in the Aston area of Birmingham at 229 Victoria Road, Aston, Birmingham, B6 5HP. More information about the service can be found on their website www.birminghamcircumcisionservices.co.uk.
The service is located in a health centre close to the City Centre of Birmingham. There are good public transport links and car parking is available.
The service provides circumcision to fee-paying patients. The service provides circumcision to children and adults for medical, cultural and religious reasons under local anaesthetic.
The majority of circumcisions carried out by the service are on children under one year of age. The provider gave us data that showed between February 2022 and March 2023, of the circumcisions that had been carried out by the service, 81% had been on children under 1 year old, 8% were carried out on 1 to 5 years olds and 11% of all procedures were on people aged 5 years or older.
The plastic surgeon assesses the patient and decides the best method of circumcision in discussion with the patient/parents/carers. This either involves using a Plastibell (ring) (mostly under the age of two years) or a cut and stitch method.
The circumcision service has access to one minor operating room on the ground floor, a waiting area and a recovery room within the health centre. There are baby changing and feeding facilities available.
The service is registered with Care Quality Commission (CQC) to provide the following regulated activities: Surgical procedures.
The service is open Monday to Friday between 9am and 7.30pm to take telephone bookings.
The service is open on weekends between 9am and 5pm, dependent on service bookings.
The clinical team includes a plastic surgeon and a GP (both male). They are supported by a service manager and a receptionist/administrator.
Patients can book an appointment by telephoning the service.
The service provides 24 hours telephone cover for post-operative support. Staff explain to people when aftercare information is given, if it is an emergency they need to attend accident and emergency (A&E).
How we inspected this service
Before the inspection we reviewed any existing information we held on the service and the information the provider returned to us.
During the inspection we interviewed staff, reviewed patient records, made observations of the premises and reviewed documents.
To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask the following five questions:
- Is it safe?
- Is it effective?
- Is it caring?
- Is it responsive to people’s needs?
- Is it well-led?
These questions therefore formed the framework for the areas we looked at during the inspection.