Vernova Healthcare - Waters Green Medical Centre

This service is rated as Good overall. The previous inspection in March 2018 was not rated because the CQC did not give ratings to independent healthcare providers at that time. However, all the required standards of care were met at that inspection.

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? – Outstanding

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Vernova Healthcare - Waters Green Medical Centre as part of our inspection programme and to provide the service with a rating.

Vernova Healthcare Community Interest Company is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of the following regulated activities: surgical procedures, diagnostic and screening procedures and treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

Vernova Healthcare is owned by the 22 GP practices in the area of Eastern Cheshire and whilst the GPs are the shareholders of the Community Interest Company, Vernova Healthcare is a “not-for-profit” organisation and re-invests any financial surplus into patient care.

Vernova Healthcare Community Interest Company is registered to provide a number of health care services at its location at Waters Green Medical Centre, the majority of which are NHS funded. These services are available by referral from the patient’s GP. The service works closely with Macclesfield Hospital to ensure that the services provided are joined up with hospital care. Services include phlebotomy, ultrasound, diabetes, aural micro suction and minor surgical procedures including vasectomy and carpal tunnel surgery. In addition, they provide a travel health clinic.

Justin Johnson is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations about how the service is run.

Our key findings were:

• There were systems and processes in place to safeguard patients from abuse and staff were able to access relevant training to keep patients safe.
• The service learned and made improvements when things went wrong.
• Regular and ongoing training was provided to ensure staff were suitably qualified for their role.
• Staff worked together and worked well with other organisations to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Mental health practitioners were involved in the diabetic clinic to further support patients with the management of their condition.
• Staff consistently told us they enjoyed their job and were well supported in their role.
• Staff treated patients with kindness, respect and compassion.
• The service took complaints and concerns seriously and responded to them appropriately to improve the quality of care.
• Structures, processes and systems to support good governance and management were clearly set out, understood and effective.
• There were clear and effective processes for managing risks, issues and performance.
• Leaders consistently demonstrated a commitment to best practice performance and risk management to ensure all staff had the capacity and skills to deliver high quality sustainable care. There were systems in place to review all aspects of the service for ongoing improvement with identified problems being addressed quickly and openly.

We saw the following outstanding practice:

• There were systems to support improvement and innovation work. For example, there were clear examples of Vernova Healthcare delivering care and services in an innovative way exemplified by the specialist community diabetes service. This meant patients received high quality care closer to their home which is a particular benefit for people living with poorer social determinants of health.

• An academic paper about talking therapies in specialist community diabetes services has been submitted for publication. There was evidence of the effectiveness of the diabetic service with demonstrably improved HbA1c levels. A further paper has also been submitted for publication showing the impact of the pandemic on diabetic monitoring demonstrating that those patients living in the highest areas of deprivation were disproportionately affected. This research provided clinicians with information about how to better target services in order to support patients living in areas of high deprivation and who may be vulnerable to other healthcare issues.

• Leaders consistently demonstrated a commitment to best practice performance and risk management systems to ensure staff had the capacity and skills to deliver high quality sustainable care. There were systems in place to review all aspects of the service for ongoing improvement with identified problems being addressed quickly and openly.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

Chief Inspector of Hospitals and Interim Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services