Bupa Health and Dental Centre - Reading

Updated 2 July 2018

Bupa Health and Dental Centre – Reading, provides independent health assessment services, GP consultations and musculoskeletal services. The service has an in-house dental suite offering preventive, specialist and cosmetic dental and hygienist services.

This inspection focused on the independent health assessments and GP consultations. The dental service report, which was inspected on the same day, can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Bupa Health and Dental Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

There is level access for people who use wheelchairs and those with pushchairs.

Bupa Health and Dental Centre is registered with Care Quality Commission (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. Some of the services available at Bupa Health and Dental Centre - Reading are exempt by law from CQC regulation. Therefore, we were only able to inspect the regulated activities as part of this inspection.

The provider has a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the CQC 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.

The service is open 7.30am to 6pm Monday to Friday, with a late evening until 7pm on Wednesdays and 8am to 4.00pm on Saturday.

Patients requiring advice and support outside of those hours are advised to use the NHS 111 service. The service does not manage the ongoing of care and review of patients with long term conditions as part of its GP services. The centre employs 31 staff, which include health assessment and primary care doctors, health advisors, sport and exercise medicine consultants, physiotherapists and staff working for the dental service. Those staff are supported by the centre manager and a range of administration and support staff.

The inspection of the health services was led by a CQC inspector who was accompanied by a GP specialist advisor.

During our visit we:

• Spoke with a range of staff, including three GP’s (including the clinical lead), three members of the health advisor team and the centre manager, who is also the registered manager.
• Looked at information the service used to deliver care and treatment plans.
• Reviewed documents relating to the service.
• We collected 23 CQC comment cards completed by patients.

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.

Updated 2 July 2018

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 15 May 2018 at Bupa Health and Dental Centre - Reading 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.

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.

Bupa Health and Dental Centre - Reading provides independent health assessment services, GP consultations and musculoskeletal services. This inspection focused on the independent health assessments and GP consultations. The dental service report, which was inspected on the same day, can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Bupa Health and Dental Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

We obtained patient feedback through 23 comments cards which were all positive about the service.

Our key findings were:

• The provider had systems and processes to provide safe care and treatment.
• The provider had suitable arrangements for dealing with medical and other emergencies.
• Staff assessed patients’ needs and provided care and treatment in line with recognised guidance.
• Patients were positive about all aspects of the service the provider provided.
• Staff protected patients’ privacy and were aware of the importance of confidentiality.
• The provider’s appointment system was efficient and met patients’ needs.
• The provider had arrangements to ensure the smooth running of the service.
• There was a clearly defined management structure and staff felt supported and appreciated.
• The provider monitored clinical and non-clinical areas of their work to help them improve and learn.
• Risks to patients were managed and mitigated.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Review the policy on identity checking to ensure risks to patients are mitigated.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) Chief Inspector of General Practice