Archived: Morecambe Urgent Treatment Centre

Updated 20 July 2018

PDS Medical is registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide urgent care same day consultations to patients in the local area from one location:

• Morecambe Same Day Health Centre, 1 Hanover Street, Morecambe, LA4 5LY.

We visited this location during our inspection.

PDS Medical is registered with the CQC to deliver the following regulated activities from Morecambe Same Day Health Centre: treatment for disease, disorder or injury; and diagnostic and screening services.

The service was originally commissioned to provide an 8am-6.30pm, seven day-a-week service due to a reduced number of GPs available in the local area, which is indicated by the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (2010) to be amongst the fifth most disadvantaged area of the country. It offers nurse-led appointments from 8am to 8pm seven days a week, as well as extended access appointments with a GP from 6.30pm to 8pm Monday to Friday, 8am to 2.30pm on Saturday and 8am to 2pm on Sunday. All appointments are 15 minutes in duration.

Patients can access the service via the 111 telephone service or via their own GP practice who hold a number of ‘on-the-day’ appointments for their patients. Each GP practice had the option to divert 1% of their minor illness patients per day to the service. This allows GPs to have more time for in-depth appointments for their chronic disease management patients.

The service is based in a large single storey building shared with other services including GP and Out-of-Hours (OOHs) services. They have appropriate access for patients with limited mobility. There are radiology facilities available at the service.

The service is commissioned by Morecambe Bay Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to provide same day healthcare appointments to approximately 140,000 registered patients in the CCG. The geographical area covered by the service includes Morecambe, Lancaster and Carnforth and a range of urban and rural areas. It is a mixed population, with parts of Morecambe and Lancaster being considered areas of high deprivation. In general, people living in more deprived areas tend to have greater need for health services. Approximately 28% of the population is made up of university students.

The service employs two advanced nurse practitioners, four practice nurses, three healthcare assistants, one emergency care practitioner and two reception staff. There is also a service manager and assistant service manager, as well as a central management team and a board of directors at PDS Medical. GPs work in the service on a sessional arrangement.

Updated 20 July 2018

This service is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection under a different provider October 2014 – Good)

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? – Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Morecambe Same Day Health Centre on 22 May 2018 as part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

• The service had good systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When they did happen, the service learned from them and improved their processes.
• The service routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• Staff involved and treated people with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Patients were able to access care and treatment from the service within an appropriate timescale for their needs.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Make information about how to complain available to patients in the waiting area.
• Continue to look for ways to improve performance relating to sending clinical details to a patient’s GP before 8am next working day.
• Continue to work towards completing appraisals for all staff.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice