Updated 29 August 2023
Fylde Coast Medical Services (NW) Limited (FCMS) provides urgent health treatment at Fleetwood Urgent Treatment Centre, which is located close to the town centre of Fleetwood at the Health and Wellbeing Centre on Dock Street.
The provider is registered to provide the regulated activities of diagnostic and screening procedures, transport services, triage and medical advice provided remotely as well as treatment of disease, disorder or injury. FCMS is a social enterprise, committed to reinvesting into staff development and wellbeing, as well as improving patient care and supporting the communities in which people work and live.
Fleetwood Urgent Treatment Centre is situated within a purpose-built health care centre which also houses a GP practice, a pharmacy, an x-ray service and a mental health service. There are good public transport links to the town centre, parking is available, and the building is accessible for people with limited mobility. A hearing loop is available within the building.
The provider has good relationships with the owner of the premises, the partner services within the building and the facilities contractor.
Fleetwood Urgent Treatment Centre provides assessment, diagnosis, treatment and advice to patients presenting with minor illness and minor injuries and is accessible to local and temporary residents and visitors to Fleetwood. The provider also delivers a nurse-led wound care service with pre-bookable daytime appointments available Monday to Friday and enhanced access to primary care when GP surgeries are closed from 6.30 pm to 8 pm and 8 am to 8 pm at weekends.
The centre is open 8am to 8pm 7 days a week, including bank holidays. Patients can attend without an appointment. The service works closely with the NHS 111 service with pre-bookable appointments available to patients accessing the service via this pathway. Some patients are referred into the service from the 999-emergency service and the provider has a working agreement over referrals from 999 operators. Staff assess and treat or refer and signpost patients to other services if required. Data shared by the provider showed that over 75% of patients arrived without a pre-booked appointment.
The clinical team consists of long-term locum and agency GPs, advanced nurse practitioners and nurses who are non-medical prescribers and health care assistants. A deputy head of care, a clinical manager, 2 service coordinators and 7 receptionists and administration staff support the clinical team on site. The provider supports the centre through its broader management and governance structure.
The provider ensures a GP is on site throughout the location's operational hours of 8am to 8pm each day for the urgent treatment provision, with a second GP on site during hours when the service provides enhanced access to primary care.
Use of the centre was significantly higher in 2022, with 59,862 patients seen compared with previous years. Previous data shows attendance of 45,179 in 2018, 51,224 in 2019, a decrease during the pandemic period to 28,365 in 2020 then increasing to 42,911 in 2021. This demonstrates an increase of attendance of 40% between 2021 and 2022. Month on month attendance during 2023 showed a continued upwards trend.
Information published by The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities rates the level of deprivation within the local population as 1 on a scale of 1 to 10. Level 1 represents the highest levels of deprivation and level 10 the lowest. Life expectancy for females is 79 years and 74 years for males, which are lower than England averages of 83 years and 79 years respectively.
The centre is part of Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB and FCMS also provide other NHS services in the Fylde Coast and Blackpool area. FCMS work in partnership with the ICB to provide out of hours and additional clinics in response to local pressures, this included providing additional respiratory clinics during the winter months in response to the scarlet fever outbreak and increased demand on GPs and hospitals.
The Head of Fylde Coast Integrated Urgent Care Services 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.
Further information about FCMS and Fleetwood Urgent Treatment Centre can be found on the provider's website: Urgent Care - FCMS (fcms-nw.co.uk).