Service Administration Office

Updated 30 December 2019

The Administration Office is a location of Commisceo Primary Care Solutions, which is an independent healthcare provider. It is situated at Suite Seven, Skyline Plaza, 45 Victoria Avenue, Southend on Sea SS2 6BB which is in a refurbished multi- purpose high rise building in the heart of Southend on Sea.

Four separately commissioned services are co-ordinated and managed from this location. Central governance systems were in place and where necessary, there were individual procedures for each of the services.

1. An enhanced access service, which provides evening and weekend appointments for patients registered with a GP in Southend. Patients can pre-book appointments via their own surgery or direct with the hub when it is running clinics. Commisceo have been providing this service since April 2019 from two hubs in the local area.
2. A flu swabbing service for residential care homes which Commisceo have been delivering since September 2018. This service provides timely diagnosis and treatment of flu and other respiratory conditions within care homes across a number of clinical commissioning group (CCG) areas.
3. The special allocation service for Southend, which is a service for patients who have been excluded from accessing GP surgeries due to violent or aggressive behaviour. This group of patients receive GP or nurse consultations in selected, secure locations. All patients in this group are aged 18 years old or over.
4. The provision of a primary care service for patients attending the emergency department in Southend University Hospital without a life or limb threatening condition. Primary care support is provided for all patients who attend the emergency department with health care needs more suitably met by a general practitioner.

The provision of primary care services at Southend University hospital had been inspected separately in December 2018 and was not included as part of this inspection.

How we inspected this service

Prior to the inspection we reviewed feedback information provided by Southend CCG, and information received from the provider. We looked at all of the domains for each of the three services to ensure that they were all complying with the regulations. On the day of inspection, we received feedback from patients on the special allocation list, patients who had used the enhanced access service, and clinical staff who delivered sessions in both the enhanced access service and the special allocations service. We also spoke with staff in care homes who had used the swabbing service for their residents.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask the following five questions:

• Is it safe?
• Is it effective?
• Is it caring?
• Is it responsive to people’s needs?
• Is it well-led?

These questions therefore formed the framework for the areas we looked at during the inspection.

Updated 30 December 2019

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Administration Office as part of our inspection programme. This is the first inspection of this location.

The inspection covered three services provided by The Administration Office: a flu swabbing service in care homes, the special allocation service list and an enhanced access service.

This service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of the services it provides. It is registered with CQC to deliver diagnostic and screening procedures, family planning, maternity and midwifery services, surgical procedures, and treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

The chief operating officer 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.

Patients we spoke with on the day of the inspection were positive about the service, and staff in the care homes who had used the flu swabbing service commented on the efficiency of the service.

At this inspection we found the following for all three services:

• The service had effective systems in place to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen.
• The service routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment were delivered in line with evidence-based guidelines.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Patients were able to access the service they needed within an appropriate timescale.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP
Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care