Archived: The Rutherford Cancer Centre North East

Updated 16 June 2022

The Rutherford Cancer Centre North East is operated by Rutherford Cancer Care Limited.

The Rutherford Cancer Centre North East offers oncology services to both the planning and delivery of cancer treatments. The centre, which occupies a two-story building in private grounds, was custom built to meet the needs of cancer patients. Treatments available at the centre include proton beam therapy, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and immunotherapy. There is 24-hour access to the clinical team out of hours. As an independent provider, users attending the centre for treatment require private medical insurance or to pay for their treatment. The service does hold an NHS contract for chemotherapy services and diagnostic screenings. The service only treats adults over the age of 18.

The service is registered to provide the following regulated activities:

• Diagnostic and screening procedures
• Treatment of disease, disorder or injury

The physical environment in the service includes:

• A main reception and waiting area
• A diagnostic reception and waiting area
• One medical proton therapy machine
• One medical linear accelerator
• A systemic anti-cancer therapy (SACT) suite
• One Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanner for treatment planning
• One Computerised Tomography (CT) scanner for treatment planning
• A mammography suite
• A chemotherapy suite with an open treatment area with four chairs and four single treatment rooms
• Changing rooms
• Toilets
• Quiet rooms
• Three consulting rooms
• A child friendly area
• Staff facilities including offices, changing facilities, toilets and a staff room
• Gardens

This was the first time we have inspected and rated this service. We inspected this service using our comprehensive inspection methodology. We carried out an unannounced inspection on 19 April 2022.

The current registered managed has been in post since 2021.

Updated 16 June 2022

We rated this service as good because:

• The patient’s environments were safe, clean and well maintained.
• The service followed good practice with respect to safeguarding.
• Staff engaged in clinical audit to evaluate the quality of care they provided.
• 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 managed safety well. The service controlled infection risk well. Staff assessed risks to patients, acted on them and kept good care records. They managed medicines well. The service managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them.
• Staff provided outstanding care and treatment, there was a truly holistic approach to assessing, planning and delivering care and treatment to all people who use services. This included meeting nutrition, hydration and pain relief needs. 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.
• People were truly respected and valued as individuals and were empowered as partners in their care, practically and emotionally, by the service. There was a strong, visible person-centred culture. Staff were highly motivated to offer care that is kind and promoted people’s dignity. Relationships between people who use the service, those close to the, and staff were strong, caring and respectful.
• 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 at a time that suited them. Key services were available seven days a week.

• Leaders ran services well using reliable information systems and supported staff to develop their skills. Staff understood the service’s vision and values, and how to apply them in their work. Staff felt respected, supported and valued. They were focused on the needs of patients receiving care. Staff were clear about their roles and accountabilities. The service engaged well with patients and the community to plan and manage services and all staff were committed to improving services continually.

However:

• The consent forms used should include capacity to consent and be the current version.

Updated 16 June 2022

See the overall summary for details.