Durnford Medical Centre

Updated 23 May 2019

Durnford Health Care Limited is an independent provider registered in Manchester and operates at locations within the Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale (HMR) Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) area. This report reflects findings from the Middleton location where the service operates from Durnford Medical Centre, 113 Long Street, Middleton, Manchester, M24 6DL, where the service is based and leases treatment rooms and administration space from a GP practice.

The service provides a medical and surgical dermatology service to all NHS patients in the HMR borough, over the age of 12 years for all dermatological conditions such as eczma, psoriasis and skin lesions. It does not treat conditions such as overt malignancy or conditions requiring secondary care follow up or hospital based treatments.

Our inspection team was led by a CQC lead inspector and accompanied by a GP specialist advisor.

Before visiting we reviewed a range of information we hold about the service and asked other organisations to share what they knew. Stakeholders we contacted did not raise information of concern with us.

During our visit we spoke with staff and patients and reviewed CQC comment cards where members of the public shared their views.

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 23 May 2019

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Durnford Medical Centre (Independent Health Dermatology service provided by Durnford Health Care Ltd) on 26 April 2019 as part of our inspection programme and have rated this service as Good overall.

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? – Good

Durnford Medical Centre is an Independent Health service, provided by Durnford Health Care Ltd, which operates out of a GP Practice and provides both a medical and surgical dermatology service for all patients over the age of 12 years.

The service made use of patient feedback as a measure to improve services. They had produced their own annual survey and the results had been analysed. Results from the most recent survey found that 100% of patients rated the service as very good or excellent.

We received 29 Care Quality Commission comment cards. These were very positive regarding the care delivered by the service and mentioned the friendly and caring attitude of staff. Responses stated that the service was professional and easy to access in clean and comfortable surroundings. We spoke to four patients who had used the service who said that they felt listened to and had received excellent support and were treated with dignity.

The operations manager who is also one of the directors is 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.

Our key findings were:

• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place to report and record incidents.
• There were well established governance and monitoring systems which were effectively applied and were fully understood by staff.
• There were systems and processes in place to safeguard patients from abuse and staff were able to access relevant training to keep patients safe.
• Patients said they were fully involved in their treatment plans and making decisions about their treatment.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
• Clinicians assessed patients according to appropriate guidance and standards such as those issued by the British Association of Dermatologists.
• All members of staff maintained the necessary skills and competence to support patients.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour.
• Patient outcomes were evaluated, analysed and reviewed as part of quality improvement processes and clinical audit.

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