The Phoenix Walk in Centre

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Phoenix Walk-In Centre on 8 March 2017.  Overall, the service is rated as good.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows :

• Feedback from patients about their care was consistently positive.
• The service was co-located within the Phoenix Health centre with good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• The service reviewed complaints and how they are managed and responded to, and made improvements as a result.
• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
• There were processes in place to ensure patients attended the most appropriate service to meet their needs. Patients who attended the Walk-In Centre received an initial assessment on entry.
• Patients were informed of the waiting times to be seen by a clinician.
• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Patient outcomes were measured against key performance indicators for emergency departments. This made it difficult to compare patient outcomes against other Walk-In Centres.
• There were information leaflets and posters available in the shared waiting area and a second notice board for patients in the Walk-in Centre’s own waiting area.
• The lead nurse practitioner met regularly with colleagues from The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust’s emergency services directorate to discuss the service provided and formulate a strategy for future delivery.
• The practice had a local clinical lead nurse practitioner and there was clinical leadership governance arrangements provided by the wider trust team.

There were areas of practice where the provider should make improvements:

• Implement a programme of clinical audits including re-audits to improve patient outcomes and ensure improvements have been achieved.
• Introduce audits of prescribing that assess the performance of individual prescribers.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice