Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Preston Integrated Urgent Care Centre on 12 October 2017. Overall the service is rated as good.

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

• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and a system in place for reporting and recording significant events. The service took every opportunity to identify areas for improvement.
• The service had clearly defined and embedded systems to minimise risks to patient safety. Risk assessment was integral to service delivery.
• 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. Staff training and development was well-supported by management.
• Patients’ levels of satisfaction with the service were relatively high and the service used patient complaints and compliments to inform service developments.
• Information about services and how to complain was available. Staff were encouraged to reflect on their practice in relation to complaints.
• The provider was proactive in seeking patient and staff feedback and used surveys and “listening days” to learn how services could be improved. The patient journey was central to shaping services.
• The service had good facilities, although limited in space, and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs. A premises re-development was planned starting November 2017.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. Governance systems and processes were embedded and shared with other providers where appropriate. Service development was planned together with other services and tailored to the local health economy.
• The provider was aware of the requirements of the duty of candour. Examples we reviewed showed the service complied with these requirements.
• The leadership drove continuous improvement and staff were accountable for delivering change.

We saw two areas of outstanding practice:

• Patients’ individual needs and preferences were central to the planning and delivery of the service. For example, the service had worked with deaf expert patients to help understand the needs of those patients following a patient complaint. They designed their own patient leaflets to explain the services that they offered and to give patients health information.
• The service offered all staff a chance every year to bid for innovations that would benefit the organisation or the local community. We saw evidence of where this fund had been invested over the three years previously.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice