Phoenix Public Health at Telford Court

Updated 30 May 2023

Phoenix Public Health is operated by Phoenix Public Health Limited. The service is commissioned to provide specialist bariatric surgery for NHS patients living in Merseyside, Lancashire and Cumbria. The service has been registered with the CQC since 2018.

The service is responsible for planning and arranging patients’ bariatric surgery and for delivering pre and post-operative care to the patients. All patients are 18 years and above. The service directly employs bariatric nurses, dieticians, medical fellows, administrative staff, and an anaesthetist. Staff are based at the service’s head office in Chester. The director of Phoenix Public Health Limited operates another CQC registered service which provides specialist bariatric surgery to private patients. Staff work interchangeably between both services.

Phoenix Public Health has contracts in place with two independent hospitals who provide operating theatres, equipment and staff to care for patients whilst they are in hospital. The surgery is performed by bariatric surgeons operating under practicing privileges granted by the independent hospitals. Practising privileges are a well-established system of checks and agreements to enable doctors to practise in hospitals without being directly employed by them. This means the hospitals retain responsibility for ensuring that all regulations and relevant requirements for the surgeons are met. Some surgery is performed by the service’s clinical fellows who are granted practicing privileges by the independent hospitals and are supervised by the surgeons. The service paid for psychologists’ input into the service to support psychological assessments for patients.

The service runs a fortnightly outpatients clinic from a community centre in Frodsham. The service uses the clinic to assess most new patients for surgery face to face. Most of the service’s post-operative care is carried out on the telephone.

The service’s registered manager had previously been the President of the British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society (BOMMS).

In 2022, the service assessed 388 NHS patients’ suitability for surgery. In the same year, 455 patients underwent surgery, as some of these patients were assessed the previous year.

We have not previously inspected this service.

Updated 30 May 2023

We rated it as good because:

• Staff understood the service’s vision and values, and how to apply them in their work. Staff felt respected, supported and valued. Staff were clear about their roles and accountabilities.
• The service engaged well with patients and the community to plan and manage services and all staff were committed to improving the service. The service treated a high number of patients in line with performance targets.
• Staff were focused on the needs of patients receiving care. Staff respected and valued patients as individuals who were empowered as partners in their care.
• The service provided care and treatment in line with evidence-based practice.

However

• The service did not always provide mandatory training in key skills to staff and managers did not always monitor compliance with required training such as infection, prevention and control.
• Staff did not always complete training relevant to their role to support them to recognise and report abuse.
• The service did not always operate effective governance processes to ensure compliance with legislation, support staff to perform their roles safely.

Updated 30 May 2023

We rated it as good. See the overall summary for details.