Archived: Cheetham Hill Medical Centre

Updated 7 November 2018

Cheetham Hill Medical Centre is registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide the regulated activities; Diagnostic and screening; and treatment of disease, disorder and injury. The registered provider for the service is Heart Networks UK Limited. The service is provided at two registered locations; Cheetham Hill Medical Centre, 244 Cheetham Hill Road, M8 8UP and Heart Networks UK Limited, Manchester Institute of Health and Performance, 299 Alan Turing Way, M11 2AZ. This report relates to the inspection of the location ‘Cheetham Hill Medical Centre’.

Heart Networks UK Limited provides a cardiology assessment service at Cheetham Hill Medical Centre to patients living in north and central Manchester. The service is commissioned by Manchester Health and Care Commissioning. Patients are referred by their GP through an integrated care gateway. Patients do not pay for this service.

Patients undergo an initial assessment including blood pressure monitoring and an electrocardiogram (heart tracing). This may include ambulatory monitoring carried out over several hours or days with monitoring equipment. Following this assessment a medical examination is carried out by a doctor with a specialist interest in cardiology. Patients are then invited for a second consultation to discuss the results of the tests. The patient’s GP is informed of the outcome and a proposed treatment plan if treatment is required.

Clinics are provided on Wednesdays and Thursdays of each week. Additional clinics can be provided on Saturdays if demand requires this.

How we inspected this service

Our inspection team was led by a CQC Lead Inspector accompanied by a GP Specialist Advisor.

Before visiting, we reviewed information we hold about the service and contacted the commissioners of the service to gain feedback.

During our visit we:

• Looked at the systems in place for the running of the service.

• Explored how clinical decisions were made.

• Viewed a sample of key policies and procedures.

• Spoke with a range of staff

• Made observations of the environment and infection control measures.

• Reviewed CQC comment cards that included feedback from patients about their experiences of the service.

To get to the heart of patients’ 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 people’s needs?

• Is it well-led?

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

Updated 7 November 2018

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Cheetham Hill Medical Centre on 19 and 27 September 2018 to ask the service the following key questions; Are services safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

Our findings were:

Are services safe?

We found that this service was providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services effective?

We found that this service was providing effective care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services caring?

We found that this service was providing caring services in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services responsive?

We found that this service was providing responsive care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services well-led?

We found that this service was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the service was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

The service has a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The service provides a cardiology assessment service to patients living in north and central Manchester.

Our key findings were:

• The service had clear systems to keep people safe and safeguarded from abuse. Staff understood their responsibilities to raise concerns and report incidents and near misses.
• A system was in place for reporting, investigating and learning from significant events and incidents.
• Systems were in place to deal with medical emergencies and staff were trained in basic life support.
• There were systems in place to reduce risks to patient safety. For example, infection control practices were carried out appropriately and there were regular checks on the environment and on equipment used.
• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance.
• Patient comment cards included very positive feedback about the service and patients felt they had been treated with dignity and respect and involved in decisions about their care and treatment.
• Patients were provided with information about their health along with advice and guidance to support them to live healthier lives.
• Systems were in place to protect personal information about patients.
• Staff were appropriately trained and experienced to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Staff had access to all standard operating procedures and policies.
• The service encouraged and acted on feedback from both patients and staff. Patient survey information we reviewed showed that people who used the service had given positive feedback about their experience.

• Information about services and how to complain was available. Improvements were made as a result of complaints and feedback from patients.
• The location of the service provided appropriate facilities for patients, including disabled access.
• There was a clear leadership and staff structure and staff understood their roles and responsibilities.
• The provider had a clear vision to provide a safe and high-quality service.

• There were clinical governance systems and processes in place to ensure the quality of service provision.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice