We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 20 November 2017 to ask the service the following key questions; Are services safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led?

Our findings were:

Are services safe?

We found that this service was providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services effective?

We found that this service was providing effective care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services caring?

We found that this service was providing caring services in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services responsive?

We found that this service was providing responsive care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services well-led?

We found that this service was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the service was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Bupa Centre – Manchester provides a range of health assessments, GP services, musculoskeletal services, occupational health services and physiotherapy services. The service offers appointments with GPs and health advisors and other healthcare specialists. The service opening hours are Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm. Patients can book appointments on line and through a central call centre number between 8am and 5pm. The service did not provide care and treatment to children and young people under the age of 18 years.

This service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of some, but not all, of the services it provides. There are some exemptions from regulation by CQC which relate to particular types of service and these are set out in Schedule 2 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. Those occupational health related services provided to clients under a contractual arrangement through their employer or government department are exempt by law from CQC regulation. Therefore, they did not fall into the scope of our inspection.

As part of our inspection we asked for Care Quality Commission comment cards to be completed by patients prior to our inspection visit. We received 44 comment cards, all of which were positive about the standard of care received.

Our key findings were:

• Systems were in place to protect people from avoidable harm and abuse. When mistakes occurred lessons were learned and action was taken to minimise the potential for reoccurrence.
• There were effective arrangements in place for the management of medicines.
• The service had arrangements in place to respond to medical emergencies.
• Staff were aware of current evidence based guidance. Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills and knowledge to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Patient survey information and Care Quality Commission (CQC) comment cards reviewed indicated that patients were very satisfied with the service they received. Patients commented that they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• Information about services and how to complain was available.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management and worked very well together as a team.
• There was a clear vision to provide a safe and high quality service.
• There were effective clinical governance systems and processes in place to ensure the quality of service provision.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the duty of candour.

There were areas where the provider could make improvement and should:

• Improve how information from safety alerts is disseminated to all clinicians working at the service.
• Review the system currently in place to determine patients’ identity and age.
• Review the current monitoring system to ensure all clinical areas are hygienically clean.

During this inspection we visited BUPA Centre, Manchester. We spoke with a GP, registered manager, practice nurse, reception staff and a sample of patients on the day of our visit.

We spoke with people who had attended the clinic for health assessments on the day of our inspection. People told us they had received an information pack about the health assessment before their appointment.

Comments received from patients included: “Very good service”; “They are interested in you, really good”; “They are good, very confident with the information I receive” and “Care is swift, friendly and tailored to you.”

We spoke with two people who had attended the clinic for health assessments on the day of our inspection. People told us they had received an information pack about the health assessment before their appointment. One person said, “I had lots of written information come through to me before my appointment, which was informative and meant I knew what to expect.” Both people confirmed they had completed detailed information about their medical history and lifestyle to inform their assessment and given consent for the assessment to be undertaken.

People told us they were satisfied with the service. One person (who had attended previously) said, “Following my last assessment I received a report that contained good information, it was useful and well presented. It [the service] is in a good, central location.” Another person said there had been a mistake with part of their original health assessment so they had come back. They said this had been handled well by the staff who had apologised and their overall experience of the service was positive.

The manager told us reports were produced monthly that collated the findings of a feedback survey and included any additional written comments that people had added. We looked at the most recent report from December 2012. Overall, feedback was positive with 80% of respondents being very satisfied or satisfied with the service they received.

We spoke to two of the people who were attending the clinic for a health assessment on the day we visited. Both of these people gave us extremely positive feedback about their care and treatment. People said they were happy with the amount of information they had been given about their assessment. People said the assessment had met their expectations and the staff had been very helpful and professional. One person said: "It has been a very efficient and professional service." The other person said: "It's been great and very reassuring. Overall a good experience."