LOC - Leaders in Oncology Care at London Bridge Hospital

Updated 10 December 2021

Leaders in Oncology Care at the London Bridge Hospital is operated by Loc @ The London Bridge Hospital Llp, which was overseen by the wider HCA Hospitals brand. The service opened in 2017 and is a private service in south London. In 2018 the PET CT service was added to the service offering. The service primarily serves communities in London but, accepts referrals from outside this area and overseas.

The service had a long-standing registered manager in post.

The service was registered to provide the following regulated activities:

• Treatment of disease disorder and injury
• Diagnostic and screening procedures
• Surgical procedures

Leaders in Oncology Care at London Bridge Hospital provides care for patients on cancer care pathways including consultation appointments, PET CT scans and chemotherapy. A PET CT scan is a combination of a PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scan and a CT scan. PET scans show how active cells are in different parts of the body, using radioactive injections and are combined with CT scans to show this mapped with patient anatomy. Other oncology treatments such as surgery or radiotherapy were completed by the wider London Bridge Hospital team. The service had no overnight beds.

We have not previously inspected this service.

The main service provided at this service was care for patients with cancer. We have reported the whole pathway in medical care. Where our findings are specific to diagnostic imaging, chemotherapy or outpatients we have made this clear. Where findings are true across all of Leaders in Oncology Care at London Bridge Hospital we have referred to this as “the service”.

Updated 10 December 2021

We rated it as outstanding because we found many examples of high quality, safe, innovative care:

• The service had enough staff to care for patients and keep them safe. Staff had training in key skills, understood how to protect patients from abuse and worked with external agencies to do so, and managed safety well. The service controlled infection risk well. Staff thoroughly assessed risks to patients, acted on them and kept good care records. They managed medicines well and were consistently supported by the pharmacy team to do so. The service managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them and fostered an open environment where incident reporting was encouraged.
• Staff provided excellent care and treatment, gave patients enough to eat and drink, and gave them pain relief when they needed it. Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service and made sure staff were competent. Staff worked well together for the benefit of patients, advised them on how to lead healthier lives, supported them to make decisions about their care, and had access to good information. Key services were contactable seven days a week.
• Staff went above and beyond to treat patients with compassion and kindness. The service was orientated towards respecting patients’ privacy and dignity and providing personalised care. Staff took account of their individual needs and helped them understand their conditions. Patients and their families were provided emotional support through a variety of support services. Despite the outpatient nature of the service, patients and their families had access to a wide selection of complementary therapies such as massage, aromatherapy and reiki.
• The service planned care to meet the needs of local people, took account of patients’ individual needs, and made it easy for people to give feedback. People could access the service when they needed it and did not have to wait for treatment.
• Leaders ran services well using reliable information systems and actively supported staff to develop their skills. They were forward thinking with a focus on continuous improvement and engaged staff in developing the service. Staff felt respected, supported and valued. They were focused on the individual needs of patients receiving care. Staff were clear about their roles and accountabilities and all felt able to suggest improvements. The service engaged well with patients to manage services and actively sought their views and ideas about how their experience could be enhanced. All staff were committed to improving services.

Updated 10 December 2021

The main service carried out at this location was care for patients with cancer. This service was part of the wider oncology offering at London Bridge Hospital and was responsible for patients’ outpatient appointment, chemotherapy treatment and PET CT scans. We rated this service as outstanding as they were outstanding in effective and caring and good in safe, responsive and well led.