Fleetwood Urgent Treatment Centre

This practice is rated as Good overall.

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? - Good

Are services effective? - Good

Are services caring? - Good

Are services responsive? - Outstanding

Are services well-led? - Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Fleetwood Urgent Treatment Centre on 20 July 2023. We carried this inspection out as the service had a change of registration in November 2021.

At this inspection we found:

• The centre had seen an increased attendance of 40% between 2021 and 2022 yet continued to provide treatment or transfer within 4 hours for 99.9% of patients.
• The centre had clear systems to manage risk to minimise and prevent risks and incidents. When incidents did happen, the service learned from them and improved their processes.
• The centre routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that staff delivered care and treatment according to evidence-based guidelines.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Patients reported that they were able to access care when they needed it. Patient feedback for the service was very positive.
• The service was responsive to local needs and engaged effectively with local Integrated Commissioning Board (ICB) commissioners to provide services for the local community. In addition to the existing services they provided, through December 2022 and January 2023 the provider and service worked with the ICB to set up a respiratory hub at Fleetwood Urgent Treatment Centre in response to the increased pressure on healthcare services from various winter illnesses.
• The staff team engaged with the local community, conducting visits to local schools and fund raising for local charities which the provider supported.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.
• The staff team embodied organisational values, were proud of the service they provided for the local community and told us of the development opportunities and support the provider had given them.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Establish formal systems to record and monitor actions identified from infection prevention and control audits and premises checks.
• Review and embed effective monitoring arrangements for managing safety alerts.
• Complete the IT changes to embed clinical audit for enhanced access consultations into the existing clinical audit processes.

Dr Sean O'Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

Chief Inspector of Healthcare