GP Led Walk-in-Centre

Updated 20 July 2022

GP Led Walk-in-Centre (Whitegate Health Centre, 150-158 Whitegate Drive, Blackpool, Lancashire, FY3 9ES) is a registered location under the provider Bloomfield Medical Limited and delivers urgent care services to the population of Blackpool.

The service is part of the NHS Blackpool Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). The provider is registered to carry out the regulated activities of diagnostic and screening procedures as well as treatment of disease, disorder or injury at this location. Bloomfield Medical Limited are working in collaboration with another local urgent care provider to align the service provision at GP Led Walk-in-Centre with other local sites as part of the Fylde Coast Integrated Urgent Care Service.

The providers share managerial oversight of the urgent care provision across the system in order to better manage demand and resources to ensure patient needs are met. The GP Led Walk-in-Centre is situated within a purpose built primary care centre. The premises is approximately one mile outside the town centre of Blackpool and is serviced by good public transport links. The centre provides open access primary care to local and temporary residents and visitors to Blackpool.

The GP Led Walk in Centre is open between 8am and 8pm, 7 days a week, all year round. Patients can self present without an appointment, irrespective of whether they are registered with a GP, with any primary care need. Patients will be assessed and treated or referred/signposted to other services if required. In addition, the provider also delivers extended access sessions from the centre between 6.30 and 8.00pm Monday to Friday, and 8am until 8pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

Appointments are offered as part of these sessions for patients registered with local GP practices who are unable to attend their usual surgery during normal opening hours. The centre is staffed by a team of GPs, advanced nurse practitioners, non-medical prescribers, practice nurses and health care assistants. The clinical team are supported by an operational lead and team of other non-clinical personnel including an HR lead, receptionists and administration staff.

The staff at the centre are also supported by a broader management structure within the provider organisation and another provider in collaboration as part of the integrated urgent care system across the Fylde coast. The provider ensures a GP is on site throughout the location’s operational hours of 8am until 8pm each day.

Updated 20 July 2022

This service is rated as Good overall. This is the service’s first inspection.

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? – Outstanding

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at GP-Led Walk in Centre on 5 September 2018. This inspection was carried out under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions.

At this inspection we found:

• The service had well established systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When they did happen, the service learned from them and improved their processes. We saw how the provider effectively cascaded learning outcomes to all staff.
• Patients’ care needs were assessed and delivered in a timely way according to need. The service was meeting the Clinical Commissioning Group’s key performance indicators.
• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. The provider had systems in place to support staff in updating their clinical knowledge and practice in line with any updates to guidance.
• Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment. The service’s management team had a detailed understanding of the training needs of staff.
• Patient feedback we received was positive about their experiences accessing the service. They said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management.
• Service leaders had established and embedded comprehensive systems and processes to govern activity and assure themselves that safe and effective care were delivered.
• We saw the organisation placed high value on, and was responsive to both staff and patient feedback. Feedback received was acted on to make service improvements.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

• We saw how the organisation prioritised quality improvement at all levels. This ranged from weekly audits of clinical consultations for all grades of staff, with supportive feedback offered to individuals, to ‘deep dive’ audits being undertaken to review and improve whole processes. The service was proactive in reviewing the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided.

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