Bupa Insurance Services Limited - Bupa Place

Updated 28 November 2019

BUPA Insurance Services Limited is based in a telephone contact centre and offers telephone advice and support concerning health and well-being to members who are members of the service. BUPA Insurance staff also process medical insurance claims. The processing of insurance claims did not relate to the regulated activity and therefore not within the scope of this inspection.

The centre is based in Salford Quays and staff speak with members from all over the United Kingdom. Members using these services do not visit this location and all advice is given over the telephone. The service handles over 260,000 calls a month.

The service operates from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 4pm on a Saturday. The service offers access to a team of specialist nurses including oncology and cardiac nurses, who provide medical advice and triage of symptoms to members. Clinical review at key stages within a member’s treatment and case management of clinical pathways is also provided to members.

Members are offered advice relating to their care and treatment and are provided with ongoing support during this time. This could include if a member has any questions or concerns relating to treatment, then they can contact a nurse for advice.

The service employs 50 clinical nurses as well as a team of non-clinical call handlers and a leadership team. The governance team is formed of clinical and non-clinical leads.

Information from the service was submitted and reviewed prior to the inspection. This included information relating to staff, members, complaints, significant events, and audits of the service.

To get to the heart of members’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask the following five questions:

• Is it safe?

• Is it effective?

• Is it caring?

• Is it responsive to members’ needs?

• Is it well-led?

These questions therefore formed the framework for the areas we looked at during the inspection.

Updated 28 November 2019

This service is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection March 2018 – Not rated)

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 Bupa Insurance Services on 20 September 2019 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.
• Members were able to access care and treatment from the service within an appropriate timescale for their needs.
• The provider was involved in the local community. The 'Bupa cares corporate responsibility and sustainability Education' scheme carried out a recent activity involving a local school. 60 school children, from 4 local Salford schools attending Bupa Place for the day to solve a Business problem. As a result of this session 10 pupils from All Hallows RC High School spent their work experience week at Bupa Place during July. Interview preparation was given to eight pupils from years 10 and 13 who attended a morning at Bupa place. Positive feedback was received from the students who enjoyed their experience.

Areas where the provider should improve:

• The provider should inform members how to escalate their complaint.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care