Garston 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.

We spoke to three people during the assessment who told us they were treated with respect and kindness. They said they were listened to and that staff had explained the next steps of their assessment and treatment.

Chaperones were available to support people and notices were displayed to advise people about the role of a chaperone.

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.

There were arrangements to ensure confidentiality and privacy at the service, for example, if people wanted to speak to reception staff in confidence. There was also a quiet area where people could choose to wait, separate from the main waiting area.

The service treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met their needs and preferences. People’s individual needs and equality characteristics were understood, and services were provided to meet these. Alerts were placed on patient records to help the service meet communication and environmental needs, such as the need for a quiet space and extra time for consultations.

Staff had been provided with training in equal opportunities and staff we spoke with told us how they ensured the individual communication needs of people were known and accommodated. For example, a translation service was used to support people if required, a hearing loop was in place at the reception desk and information was available in different formats. The provider had developed information to be displayed on TV screens in the waiting area, that promoted a safe, respectful and inclusive environment.

The service promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. The three people we spoke with said they were listened to, given choices and given sufficient information about how the service worked and about their care and treatment.

There was information available in the waiting area that detailed the different stages of the journey through the urgent treatment centre. The length of wait to be seen was also displayed.

To support people with additional learning needs, including autism and learning disabilities, a visual tool had been introduced to help prepare people for their visit to the urgent treatment centre by outlining what to expect at each stage of their journey. This was designed to increase independence by reducing anxiety and improving communication, enabling people to understand and participate in their care.

A sensory box was also available to help reduce people’s stress and anxiety. The service had worked with people with a learning disability to improve the environment and communication. Staff told us how they would ensure the views of carers were taken into account. They told us how they would also ask people if they had communication aids such as a communication passport to help them participate more fully in their care.

The provider responded to people’s immediate needs. Training and guidance were in place to ensure that people’s needs were prioritised and to identify people who required urgent attention or referral.

Nationally recognised triage systems were in place to assist staff to appropriately prioritise people’s needs and monitor people for any signs of deterioration in their health.

Staff had received training in life support relevant to their roles. Sepsis warning signs and protocols were displayed in treatment rooms. Clinical staff had undertaken sepsis awareness training; however, we noted that the non-clinical team had not been given training in spotting the signs of sepsis.

Pathways to support staff to refer people with immediate needs were in place, for example, to the local emergency department, mental health services and specialist treatment centres, such as the Burns Unit. A protocol was in place for receiving patients during major incidents when mass casualties were anticipated. The service had a system in place that alerted staff to any specific safety or clinical needs of a person using the service.

The provider had systems and processes in place to promote the wellbeing of their staff to enable staff to deliver person-centred care. This included providing the necessary resources and facilities for safe working.

Reasonable adjustments were made to support staff and requests for flexible working were considered. There were a range of policies and procedures to support staff in the workplace.

Staff had access to occupational health and wellbeing services.There was a health and wellbeing site on the trusts’ intranet.The trust had several staff networks which supported staff members with protected characteristics.

The provider had introduced monthly reflective practice sessions to support clinical staff. The benefits of this included staff being able to discuss updates to clinical guidelines, learn from significant events and benefit from peer support.

Opportunities were provided for staff to give feedback on the service such as meetings, surveys and listening events.

The feedback we got from staff indicated that overall, they felt supported by the management team and were listened to. Staff told us they were proud to work at the service. Staff told us they felt improvements were needed to the staffing numbers and that staff training could be better structured with more opportunities for training such as x-rays and sutures. Apprehension was expressed about the planned changes to offer more services and the anticipated loss of experienced staff.