Primary Care/Urgent Care Centre

Updated 20 July 2022

Primary Care / Urgent Care Centre (Blackpool Victoria Hospital, Whinney Heys Road, Blackpool, Lancashire, FY3 8NR) is a registered location under the provider Bloomfield Medical Limited and delivers urgent care services to the Fylde Coast population.

The service is part of the NHS Blackpool clinical commissioning group (CCG). The provider is registered to carry out the regulated activities of diagnostic and screening procedures as well as treatment of disease, disorder or injury at this location.

Bloomfield Medical Limited are working in collaboration with another local urgent care provider to align the service provision at the Urgent Care Centre in Blackpool hospital with other local sites as part of the Fylde Coast Integrated Urgent Care Service (FCIUCS). The providers share managerial oversight of the urgent care provision across the system in order to better manage demand and resources to ensure patient needs are met.

The Urgent Care Centre is a purpose built facility within the local NHS Foundation trust hospital premises, and shares its reception area with the hospital’s accident and emergency department.

The centre provides open access primary care to local and temporary residents and visitors to the Fylde Coast either by appointment through the NHS 111 service, to patients walking into the centre or from the local North West Ambulance Service (NWAS). The service’s reception is staffed by staff from FCMS (NW) limited who are trained to liaise with patients on arrival and signpost them to the appropriate service.

The Urgent Care Centre is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week all year round. Bloomfield Medical Limited provide clinical staff every day from 8am to 10pm. FCMS (NW) Limited provide clinical staff in the period from 6.30pm to 8 am Monday to Friday and all day on a Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays. There is an overlap of Bloomfield and FCMS clinicians between 6.30pm and 10pm Monday to Friday and they work alongside each other on a weekend and bank holidays. In addition the provider also delivers a nurse-led deep vein thrombosis service from the centre, with pre-bookable appointments available between 9am and 5 pm Monday to Friday.

The centre is staffed by a team of GPs, advanced nurse practitioners, non-medical prescribers, practice nurses and health care assistants. The clinical team are supported by an operational lead and team of other non-clinical personnel including an HR lead, receptionists and administration staff. The staff at the centre are also supported by a broader management structure within the provider organisation and FCMS (NW) limited in collaboration as part of the integrated urgent care system across the Fylde coast.

Updated 20 July 2022

This service is rated as Good overall. This is the service’s first 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 Primary Care / Urgent Care Centre on 5 September 2018. This inspection was carried out under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions.

At this inspection we found:

• The service had well established 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. We saw how the provider effectively cascaded learning outcomes to all staff.
• Patients’ care needs were assessed and delivered in a timely way according to need. The service was meeting the Clinical Commissioning Group’s key performance indicators.
• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. The provider had systems in place to support staff in updating their clinical knowledge and practice in line with any updates to guidance.
• Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment. The service’s management team had a detailed understanding of the training needs of staff.
• Patient feedback we received was positive about their experiences accessing the service. They said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management.
• Service leaders had established and embedded comprehensive systems and processes to govern activity and assure themselves that safe and effective care were delivered.
• We saw the organisation placed high value on, and was responsive to both staff and patient feedback. Feedback received was acted on to make service improvements.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

• We saw how the organisation prioritised quality improvement at all levels. This ranged from weekly audits of clinical consultations for all grades of staff, with supportive feedback offered to individuals, to ‘deep dive’ audits being undertaken to review and improve whole processes. The service was proactive in reviewing the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided.

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