Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Sidwell Street Walk In Centre on 1st March 2017. Overall it is rated as good.

There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events. Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns and report incidents and near misses. There was a genuinely open culture in which all safety concerns raised by staff and people who use services were highly valued as integral to learning and improvement.

Risks to patients were assessed and well managed. The walk in centre had clearly defined and embedded systems, processes and practices in place to keep patients safe and safeguarded from abuse.

Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered in line with current legislation. Arrangements had been made to support clinicians with their continuing professional development.

Staff had received training appropriate to their roles. There were systems in place to support multi-disciplinary working with other health and social care professionals in the local area. Staff had access to the information and equipment they needed to deliver effective care and treatment.

Learning was celebrated and the centre was proactive in using opportunities to improve services by seeking and acting upon feedback from staff, patients and other stakeholders.

People’s individual needs and preferences were central to the planning and delivery of tailored services. We saw several examples of this. For example in order to meet patient needs, nurses had received extra training in traumatic wounds, infections and mild cellulitis; dental pain; animal and human bites protocol and patients presenting with minor ailments protocol. Health Care Assistants (HCAs) had received further training in areas such dementia awareness, learning disabilities, tissue viability, anaphylaxis, duty of candour and end of life care.

There was high patient satisfaction, with all nine patients we spoke with and the seven patient comment cards received, confirming they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.

Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns.

The centre had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.

The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

The leadership, governance and culture at the walk in centre was used to drive and improve the delivery of high-quality person-centred care.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice