Ipswich Renal Unit

Updated 25 October 2022

Diaverum UK LTD operates and manages Ipswich Renal Unit on behalf of a local NHS trust. Ipswich Renal Unit is based on site at an NHS trust and is a nurse-led unit and has been open since 2017. Care and treatment is prescribed by one of 4 consultant nephrologists who are employed by the local NHS trust and work with the service for the provision of dialysis to the patients. Facilities include 24 renal dialysis stations, a water treatment room and 3 home dialysis treatment rooms. Ipswich Renal Unit provides haemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis and holiday dialysis to adults aged 18 years and over. There are 3 dialysis sessions per day, each accommodating up to 24 patients at each session. The registered manager has been in post for 5 years and there is a separate unit manager.

Ipswich Renal Unit is open Monday to Saturday, and closed on Sunday, Christmas and New Year Days. The service is open Mondays through to Saturdays 7am to midnight each week.

Ipswich Renal Unit also runs a home peritoneal dialysis programme and manages patients at home on haemodialysis.

The service is registered for the regulated activities:

• Treatment of disease, disorder or injury

We inspected this service using our comprehensive inspection methodology. We carried out the unannounced part of the inspection on 31 August 2022. This was the first time we inspected the provider since it was acquired by Diaverum UK LTD.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we ask the same five questions of all services: are they safe, effective, caring, responsive to people's needs, and well led? Where we have a legal duty to do so we rate services’ performance against each key question as outstanding, good, requires improvement or inadequate.

Throughout the inspection, we took account of what people told us and how the provider understood and complied with the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

The main service provided was dialysis.

Updated 25 October 2022

We have not previously rated this service. We rated it as good because:

• The service had enough staff to care for patients and keep them safe. Staff had training in key skills, understood how to protect patients from abuse, and managed safety well. The service controlled infection risk well. Staff assessed risks to patients, acted on them and kept good care records. They managed medicines well. The service managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them.
• Staff provided good care and treatment, gave patients enough to eat and drink, and gave them pain relief when they needed it. Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service and made sure staff were competent. Staff worked well together for the benefit of patients, advised them on how to lead healthier lives, supported them to make decisions about their care, and had access to good information. Key services were available to suit patients' needs.
• Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, took account of their individual needs, and helped them understand their conditions. They provided emotional support to patients, families and carers.
• The service planned care to meet the needs of local people, took account of patients’ individual needs, and made it easy for people to give feedback. People could access the service when they needed it and did not have to wait too long for treatment.
• Leaders ran services well using reliable information systems and supported staff to develop their skills. Staff felt respected, supported and valued. They were focused on the needs of patients receiving care. Staff were clear about their roles and accountabilities.

However:

• Some consumables in the storeroom were out of date and had not been identified during routine checks by the service.
• A small number of daily checks of resuscitation equipment were missing from the three months prior to our inspection.

We rated this service as good because it was safe, effective, caring and responsive, and well-led.

Updated 25 October 2022

We have not previously rated this service. We rated it as good. See the overall summary for details.