• Doctor
  • Out of hours GP service

Archived: Homerton Hospital

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Homerton Row, London, E9 6SR (020) 8510 5555

Provided and run by:
City & Hackney Urgent Healthcare Social Enterprise

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 26 June 2017

City and Hackney Urgent Healthcare Social Enterprise (CHUHSE) is a community benefit society regulated by the financial conduct authority and governed by a board of executive and non-executive directors. CHUHSE are commissioned by City and Hackney Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to provide out of hours (OOH) GP services for 303,000 patients registered with a GP in the City of London and London Borough of Hackney.

Both the City of London and the London Borough of Hackney are in the top ten local authority areas for year on year population increases in the country, with the City of London experiencing the greatest percentage increase in England at 5.6% and Hackney in seventh place with a 2.3% increase in population each year.

Population data for the London Borough of Hackney suggests the area is a relatively young borough with a quarter of its population under 20. The proportion of residents between 20-29 years is 21%. People aged over 55 years make up only 18% of the population.

Hackney is a culturally diverse area, with significant Other White, Black and Turkish communities. The Charedi Jewish community is concentrated in the North East of the borough and is growing.

The main languages spoken in the area include English (76%), Turkish (4%), Polish (2%), Spanish (1%), French (1%), Yiddish (1%), Bengali, Sylheti or Chatgaya (1%), Portuguese (1%), Italian (1%) and Gujarati (1%).

Hackney was the eleventh most deprived local authority overall in England in the 2015 Index of Multiple Deprivation.

Homerton Hospital is the registered location for the out of hours GP service provided by CHUHSE (the provider). The service is co-located within the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department of Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. The full location address is A&E Department, Homerton University Hospital, Homerton Row, London E9 6SR. The provider is registered to provide the following regulated activities; Diagnostic and screening procedures, Transport services, triage and medical advice provided remotely, Treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

The area of the hospital allocated to the provider consists of a shared patient waiting area with split height reception desk and accessible patient and staff facilities. Patients are directed to the receptionist for the out of hours provider. The waiting area and reception desk are accessed via the main A&E entrance. There are two GP Consultation and treatment rooms and a medicines store. Service management, administrative offices and telephone answering facilities are located on the Homerton University Hospital site in a separate building with secure swipe card entry and intercom system.

The service is provided by 42 part time GPs from local practices, 8 reception staff, 12 call handlers, 8 drivers and 11 administrative, management and board directors.

The service operates daily from 6.30pm until 8.00am and at all times on weekends and bank holidays. The service is open during operating hours to any patient presenting at A&E with a GP appropriate condition, any patient registered with a GP Practice in the City of London and the London Borough of Hackney area requesting an out of hours appointment directly and any patient referred through NHS 111. The service manages approximately 36,000 patient contacts per year including telephone assessments, home visits and face to face consultations.

The service has not previously been inspected by CQC.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 26 June 2017

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of the out of hours service provided by City and Hackney Urgent Healthcare Social Enterprise (CHUHSE) at Homerton Hospital on 9 March 2017. Overall the service is rated as good.

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

  • Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
  • There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for recording, reporting and learning from significant events.
  • Patients’ care needs were assessed and delivered in a timely way according to need. The service met the National Quality Requirements.
  • Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
  • There was a system in place that enabled staff access to patient records, and the out of hours staff provided other services, for example the local GP and hospital, with information following contact with patients as was appropriate.
  • The service managed patients’ care and treatment in a timely way.
  • Patients said 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 service worked proactively with other organisations and providers to develop services that supported alternatives to hospital admission where appropriate and improved the patient experience.
  • The service had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs. The vehicles used for home visits were clean and well equipped.
  • There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The service proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
  • The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

  • Consider providing non clinical staff, including drivers, with basic life support (BLS) training to recognise and respond appropriately to medical emergencies.
  • Review facilities for patients with hearing impairment.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP 

Chief Inspector of General Practice