Milton Keynes Urgent Care Service CIC (Community Interest Company) provided an urgent care service which included ‘out of hours’ service within the grounds of Milton Keynes General Hospital.

The out-of-hours service is open between 18.30 and 08.00 Monday to Friday, and 24 hours a day on weekends and bank holidays. The service also provides GP home visits for people who are not well enough to attend the centre

The patients we spoke with during our inspection told us that they were happy with the treatment that they received.

We saw the service was provided in a clean and hygienic environment and there were systems in place to ensure the safety of patients which included learning from incidents, and the safe use of medicines administered on site.

We found the service was effective in meeting the wide ranging needs of patients that presented and the varying levels of demand that were placed on it. The care received by patients was audited and information shared with the patient’s usual GP to support continuation of care between different providers.

Patients received a caring service and told us that they were involved in discussions about the health care they received and we saw patients being treated with sensitivity by reception staff.

The service was responsive to the needs of the patients attending the service. All staff had access to equipment, guidance and received adequate information about the patient to support clinical decisions and effectively respond to those in urgent need.

Staff described the service as well led and staff at all levels felt supported and information was routinely shared with staff via email and through face to face meetings. We saw records to show that new members of staff were properly inducted.

The registered manager who was employed by the service has recently left, therefore the service must ensure they complete the relevant CQC paperwork to remove the registered manager who no longer works at the service and ensure timely replacement with the new manager for the service.