The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • Independent doctor

Doctorcall Manchester

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

2-4 Exchange Street, St Ann's Square, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M2 7HA 0344 257 0345

Provided and run by:
Doctorcall Limited

All Inspections

6 July 2023

During a monthly review of our data

We carried out a review of the data available to us about Doctorcall Manchester on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.

This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.

If you have concerns about Doctorcall Manchester, you can give feedback on this service.

1 Jul 2020

During an inspection looking at part of the service

This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous rating May 2019 – Good)

The key questions at this inspection are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Doctorcall Manchester on 17 May 2019 as part of our inspection programme. We rated the practice as requires improvement for providing safe services and good overall and issued the provider with a requirement notice in relation to Regulation 13 (Safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

The full comprehensive report on the May 2019 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Doctorcall Manchester on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

At our inspection in May 2019 we rated the practice as requires improvement for providing safe services because:

• Safeguarding processes and procedures were not formally documented and there were no formal systems in place to confirm the identity of children or the relationship of the adults accompanying children.

We also indicated improvements should be made as follows:

• Review the consent process for sharing information with the patient’s NHS GP to ensure this is in keeping with best practice.

• Review the translation policy and consider always providing an independent translator when a translator is required.

• Consider including consent when the audit programme is developed.

• Clarify the information available about retaining medical records if the service ceased trading.

• Review how the outcomes of audits are used to influence changes and improvements to the service.

• Consider ensuring the quality of cytology smears are formally reviewed when the results are returned.

We carried out a focused desk-based review of Doctorcall Manchester on 1 July 2020. This inspection was to see whether the breaches of Regulation 13 (Safeguarding

service users from abuse and improper treatment) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 found at our last inspection had been addressed.

For this inspection, we focused on the key question of Safe which we rated as requires improvement in June 2019.

The full comprehensive report following the inspection in May 2019 can be found on our website here: 1-125567817

At this inspection we found:

  • The practice had reviewed its safeguarding policies and procedures around the identification and relationship status of children and their accompanying adults. We saw from a sample of the patient notes of children treated that identification procedures had been followed, documented appropriately and audited.

We also looked at the areas we indicated for improvement at our previous inspection and found the provider had completed work and made changes and improvements.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care

Please refer to the detailed report for further information.

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Doctorcall Manchester as part of our inspection programme.

Doctorcall Manchester is registered with the Care Quality Commission as an independent provider of medical services for adults and children. Doctorcall Manchester is located in Manchester City Centre and is provided by Doctorcall Limited.

There are no geographical boundaries to using the service which is mainly accessed through pre-booked appointments. Consultations however, can also be at short notice depending on the availability of doctors.

The service is registered with the CQC to provide the following regulated activities:

  • Diagnostic and screening procedures;
  • Treatment of disease disorder and injury.

The service employs medical doctors who provide, private GP appointments; health screening; travel clinic services; visa medicals; flu and other immunisation vaccinations and genitourinary care and treatment. This service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of some, but not all, of the services it provides. There are some exemptions from regulation by CQC which relate to particular types of regulated activities and services and these are set out in and of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. At Doctorcall Manchester services are provided to patients under arrangements made by their employer or insurance company with whom the service user holds a policy (other than a standard health insurance policy). These types of arrangements are exempt by law from CQC regulation. Therefore, at Doctorcall Manchester we were only able to inspect the services which are not arranged for patients by their employers or an insurance company with whom the patient holds a policy (other than a standard health insurance policy).Doctorcall Manchester provides a range of interventions, for example occupational health and physiotherapy which are not within CQC scope of registration. Therefore, we did not inspect or report on these services. The provider is represented by the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

We found that patients were positive about the care and treatment provided by the service. Feedback was provided by 26 patients and their comments indicated that the service was efficient, the clinicians were knowledgeable and provided clear explanations about care and treatment; staff treated patients with respect and consideration; patients felt the staff went above expectations and felt the consulting rooms and waiting areas were clean and pleasant to use.

Our key findings were:

  • Processes were in place to protect people from abuse however, these needed to be strengthened. Processes for reporting and dealing with incidents were well developed, lessons learnt were shared with all staff and processes were changed as a result of learning. There were reliable systems and processes in place to ensure the premises were safe, clean and fit for purpose. Medicines were well managed.
  • The service provided care and treatment in line with best practice guidance and had introduced an audit programme to monitor the outcomes for patients. However, the provider did not review all audit information available to them for example the quality of cervical smear reports were not checked.
  • All records were stored electronically to a secure server however, information about how records would be stored if the service closed was unclear.
  • The provider ensured staff had the skills, qualifications and competencies to carry out their duties to the required standards. There were effective arrangements in place for working with other agencies.
  • Consent to care and treatment was gained but the appropriateness was not monitored.
  • The provider did not routinely seek permission to inform the patients NHS GP about visits to the practice.
  • The identity of children was not routinely verified and systems were not in place to confirm the status of adults accompanying children or adults accompanying other adults. Feedback from patients and the attitudes demonstrated by staff confirmed patients were treated with dignity, compassion, respect and understanding. The equipment and facilities in the consulting rooms indicated that the patient’s privacy was also respected.
  • The service was flexible and able to adapt to the needs of the patients in relation to communication needs and access. There was access to a translation service however, this service was not always used and at times an accompanying adult was allowed to translate.
  • There were a wide range of appointment times. The complaints system was easy to use and complaints fully investigated. 
  • There was a clear leadership team and staff were aware of their roles and responsibilities; leadership was visible and approachable. A quality improvement plan was in place and quality assurance systems included clear and detailed policies, procedures and guidelines relating to all aspects of service delivery for staff to follow. Monitoring processes were in place.

The areas where the provider must make improvements as they are in breach of regulations are:

Ensure patients are protected from abuse and improper treatment.

(Please see the specific details on action required at the end of this report).

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

  • Review the consent process for sharing information with the patient’s NHS GP to ensure this is in keeping with best practice.
  • Review the translation policy and consider always providing an independent translator when a translator is required.
  • Consider including consent when the audit programme is developed.
  • Clarify the information available about retaining medical records if the service ceased trading.
  • Review how the outcomes of audits are used to influence changes and improvements to the service.
  • Consider ensuring the quality of cytology smears are formally reviewed when the results are returned.
  • Review the contents of the business development plan.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGPChief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care

11 December 2017

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 11 December 2017 to ask the service the following key questions; are services safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led?

Our findings were:

Are services safe?

We found that this service was providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services effective?

We found that this service was providing effective care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services caring?

We found that this service was providing caring services in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services responsive?

We found that this service was providing responsive care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services well-led?

We found that this service was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Background

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the service was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

CQC last inspected this service on10 January 2014. That was an unannounced inspection and the service met all standards assessed.

Doctorcall Manchester is a private medical clinic that provides screening, diagnosis and treatments for patients from across the country. Treatments include physiotherapy, sexual health, GP appointment and occupational health for businesses as well as oil, gas and other specialist medicals. The service treats adutls and children.

The service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of some, but not all, of the services it provides. There are some exemptions from regulation by CQC which relate to particular types of service and these are set out in Schedule 2 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. Those occupational health related services provided to patients under a contractual arrangement through their employer and physiotherapy are exempt by law from CQC regulation. Therefore, they did not fall into the scope of our inspection.

A registered manager was in post at this location. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

As part of our inspection we asked for Care Quality Commission (CQC) comment cards to be completed by patients prior to our inspection visit. We received 39 comment cards which were all very positive about the standard of care received. Comments included; ‘Very helpful, pleasant and informative,’ ‘Received good advice and treatment,’ ‘Staff were great, environment was clean, hygienic and welcoming. Relevant questions were asked and answer were listened to, felt at ease throughout’ and ‘Excellent service.’

Our key findings were:

  • There were policies and procedures in place for safeguarding patients from the risk of abuse. Staff had received training in safeguarding.
  • Patients’ needs were assessed and treatment was discussed and planned with the patient and consent obtained prior to treatment being given.
  • Staff felt supported and had access to appropriate training.
  • Opening times of the service were clearly displayed on the website and in the patient information guide.
  • There was a system in place to manage complaints.
  • There were systems in place to monitor and improve quality and identify risk.

  • Patient satisfaction views were obtained.
  • The premises were clean and personal protective equipment (PPE) was readily available.
  • An induction programme was in place for staff.

  • There was a clear vision to provide a safe and high quality service. Staff felt supported by management and worked well together as a team.

  • The doctor we spoke with and the registered manager were aware of and complied with the duty of candour.

There were areas where the provider should make improvements:

  • The registered manager in line with their recruitment policy should continue to ensure full information is obtained and held on all staff files.

  • All doctors employed should undertake level 3 safeguarding training.

  • The registered manager should ensure the continued completion of the domestic cleaning schedule to evidence the actual cleaning undertaken.

  • The registered manager should ensure continued regular checks of the defibrillator to ensure it is good working order in the event of an emergency.

10 January 2014

During a routine inspection

At the time of our visit to this location we were only able to speak with one patient, who was totally satisfied with the service he received. We gathered evidence about the quality of service provided using a variety of different methods, including the examination of documents and records and reviewing surveys completed by people, who had previously attended the clinic. We found people's needs were appropriately met and consent to care and treatment had been obtained. The recruitment processes adopted were thorough and the quality of service provision was regularly assessed and monitored. We also toured the premises and found all areas to be clean and hygienic. We did not find any concerns with any outcome areas assessed on this occasion.

25 September 2012

During a routine inspection

We were unable to speak with people using the service because individual treatments could be highly personal due to the nature of the services provided at Doctorcall. We gathered evidence of people's experiences of the service by reviewing completed questionnaires following treatment. People indicated that the information, treatment and support they received was provided in accordance with their wishes and that they were kept fully informed during the consultation process of how treatments could be provided and what the cost would be.