During an assessment under our new approach
This assessment was carried out on 24 and 25 June 2025. Garston Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) is located at 32 Church Road, Liverpool, L19 2LW. The registered provider for the service is Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust who have a number of other locations registered with the Care Quality Commission, including 3 other urgent treatment centres and 4 walk-in centres located across the city. This is the first assessment of Garston Urgent Treatment Centre.
Garston UTC is open from 8am to 8pm, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and provides same day assessment and treatment for patients with a range of minor injuries and illnesses. The centre delivers services to approximately 2,500 people per month. The service is delivered by a team of nurses, with different levels of nursing skills, led by advanced clinical practitioners. The nursing team are supported by health care assistants and allied health professionals. The service is designed to see and treat patients who do not require emergency care, to reduce pressures on the local emergency department and reduce hospital admissions. Patients could access the service either as a walk in-patient, via NHS 111, primary or community care referral and via the ambulance service.
We assessed all five key questions to establish if the services provided were safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. We rated all key questions as good, and the service is rated good overall.
Leaders and staff prioritised safety, openness and joint working. Safety events were investigated, and lessons were learnt to identify any shortfalls, prevent a recurrence, and embed good practice.
There was an effective process to identify, understand, monitor and address current and future risks including risks to patient safety.
The service had a triage system in place to facilitate prioritisation according to clinical need.
People could access the service easily and quickly so that they got the support and treatment they needed when they needed it.
The provider used data to inform, monitor and improve performance. Data indicated good outcomes for people who used the service particularly with people being assessed within a 4-hour timeframe.
The culture and ethos of the service was to provide a high level of patient satisfaction. Staff told us they worked well as a team to provide a high quality and caring service to patients.
Support was available for people with additional needs or communication needs. For example, people who required the services of an interpreter or patients who had a learning disability.
Structures, processes and systems to support good governance and management were clearly set out, understood and effective.
All staff we spoke with were clear on their individual roles and responsibilities and the lines of accountability at the service. Staff told us that overall, they felt supported by the management team. Staff told us that they thought staffing needed to be increased so they were consistently above the minimum levels.
The provider worked collaboratively and in partnership with relevant external stakeholders, commissioners and partner agencies to provide and develop services.