St Helens Urgent Treatment Centre

On this page

• Overview
• Kindness, compassion and dignity
• Treating people as individuals
• Independence, choice and control
• Responding to people’s immediate needs
• Workforce wellbeing and enablement

We looked for evidence that the service involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.

This is the first inspection for this service since its registration with CQC. This key question has been rated as Good.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Feedback from people who used the service was positive for being treated with kindness, empathy and compassion.

The provider shared feedback with us that they had received through the NHS Friends and Family test and this showed high patient satisfaction.

Staff displayed understanding and a non-judgemental attitude towards people. Staff told us they gave people appropriate and timely information to understand their care, treatment, or condition.

Several people who used the service shared their experience of the service with CQC directly during our visit to the service. This feedback indicated that people felt listened to and treated with care and concern and it included positive feedback about the staff team, including staff in a range of roles.

There were arrangements to ensure confidentiality in the reception area. For example, if people were distressed or wanted to speak to reception staff in confidence.

The service treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met their needs and preferences.

Patients’ individual needs and equality characteristics were understood, and services were provided to meet these. Patients’ communication needs were identified and met to enable them to be fully involved in their care.

Staff had been provided with training in equal opportunities and staff we spoke with told us how they ensured the individual communication needs of patients were identified and accommodated.

The service promoted people’s independence, choice and decision making so that people had control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.

Staff gave people the information they needed to make an informed decision about their care and treatment and about referral to other services.

People were provided with information to support them in deciding if the centre was the best service to meet their needs or if an alternative service would be better placed.

Feedback from people who used the service shared directly with CQC was positive in relation to their involvement in care and treatment decisions.

The service responded to people’s immediate needs. There was an effective system for clinical triage of patients. Patients reported a quick turnaround in arriving at the service and their needs being met. The vast majority of people were managed within a 4 hour timeframe.

Staff directed patients to the most appropriate service to meet their needs if it was decided at triage or assessment that an alternative service would be more appropriate for this.

Members of the team had completed training in basic life support including the signs and symptoms of sepsis.

The results of the NHS Friends and Family test showed high levels of patient satisfaction with having their needs met.

Feedback from people who used the service shared directly with CQC was positive about how the service responded to their immediate needs. For example, one person told us ‘I have been seen by a nurse in triage within 5 minutes of arriving’ and another person told us they had been in the service for 10 minutes and had undergone triage.

Staffing was regularly reviewed to ensure there were enough clinicians to meet the needs of people attending the service. At times of high demand the service moved to triage only but this was managed effectively without compromise to patient safety as those with the most acute needs continued to be prioritised for assessment and treatment.

Data shared with us supported good outcomes for people who used the service with improving figures for the previous 12 months. Data from April 2024 to March 2025 showed that the majority of people who used the service, 96%, had undergone an assessment within 4 hours, 66% of people had been assessed within 2 hours and 79% had undergone triage within 15 minutes.

The service promoted the wellbeing of staff and was good at supporting and enabling staff to deliver patient-centred care. This included providing the necessary resources and facilities for safe working, training and professional development.

Staff we spoke with or received CQC feedback forms from were without exception positive about working at the service. They felt valued and supported by colleagues and leaders. They felt that the provider listened to them, responded to their needs and considered their individual circumstances/support needs and supported flexible working when required.

There was a strong emphasis on the safety and well-being of all staff. The provider told us about some of the Trust wide systems they had in place for supporting staff and provided a number of good examples whereby staff views and feedback had been listened to, carefully considered and used to drive improvement.

Staff had access to emergency buttons within each room and an electronic ‘panic’ button within the patient record system to summon help if required. Staff working on reception and in triage wore body cameras and on-site security was also present.

The provider had carried out a staff survey in 2024. This showed an improvement in the result for staff looking forward to going to work, which had been considerably lower the previous year. It showed positive results for staff feeling their role made a difference to patients, understanding each others roles and team members being kind and respectful to each other.