Archived: NEMS Community Benefit Services Limited Also known as NEMS CBS

NEMS Community Benefit Services Limited (NEMS CBS) provides out-of-hours General Practitioner (GP) services for around 722,000 people living within Nottingham City and southern Nottinghamshire.

We carried out the inspection as part of our new inspection programme to test our approach going forward. It took place over two days with a team including two CQC inspectors, a GP practice manager and an expert-by-experience.

We found the service was effective in meeting patient needs and had taken positive steps to ensure people who may have difficulty in accessing services were enabled to do so. NEMS had in place an effective system to ensure that patient information was promptly shared with each patient’s own GP to ensure continuity of care.

Patients told us that they were happy with the care and treatment they received from the staff at NEMS and they felt safe. There were robust systems in place to help ensure patient safety through learning from incidents and the safe management of medicines. The provider had taken robust steps to ensure that all staff underwent a thorough and rigorous recruitment and induction process to help ensure their suitability to care for patients.

Patients experienced care that was delivered by dedicated and caring staff. People we spoke with praised staff for their kind and caring attitude and we observed patients being treated with respect and kindness whilst their dignity and confidentiality was maintained.

NEMS had effective systems in place to ensure their service could be delivered to the widest range of patients with varying levels of need. There was good collaborative working between the provider and other healthcare and social care agencies which ensured patients received the best outcomes in the shortest possible time.

We found that the service was well-led and managed by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable senior management team, and their values and behaviours were shared by staff. Members of the staff team we spoke with all held very positive views of the management and leadership and felt well supported in their roles. They told us that the senior managers were approachable and listened to any concerns or suggestions they might have to improve the level of service provision.