Archived: Bupa Insurance - Anchorage

Updated 29 May 2018

BUPA Insurance Anchorage is based in a telephone contact centre and offer telephone advice and support concerning health and well-being to patients who are patients of the service. BUPA Insurance staff also process medical insurance claims.

The centre is based in Salford Quays and staff speak with patients from all over the United Kingdom. Patients using these services do not visit this location and all advice is given over the telephone. The service handles over 70,000 calls a month.

The service operates from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday, and 8am to 1pm on a Saturday. The service offers access to a team of specialist nurses including oncology and cardiac nurses who provide case management for patients. The service also provides information for treatment options to patients who want more information around treatment and tests.

The service employs around 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.

Our inspection team was led by a CQC lead inspector and the team included a second CQC inspector, a GP and a practice nurse.

Information from the service was submitted and reviewed prior to the inspection. This included information relating to staff, patients, complaints, significant events, and audits 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 patients’ needs?
• Is it well-led?

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

Updated 29 May 2018

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 15 March 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.

BUPA Insurance Anchorage is based in a telephone contact centre and offers telephone advice and support concerning health and well-being to patients who are registered with the service. BUPA Insurance staff also process medical insurance claims. The centre is based in Salford Quays and staff speak with patients from all over the United Kingdom. Patients using these services do not visit this location and all advice is given over the telephone.

At this inspection we found:

• The service had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the service learned from them and improved their processes.
• Safeguarding arrangements were in place to protect vulnerable patients from abuse and all staff were aware of how to deal with safeguarding concerns.
• We saw evidence that the service shared information with other providers in line with consent policies.
• Policies we looked at were up to date and aligned with working practice within the organisation.
• Training records were up to date and a training matrix was in place to monitor staff training.
• The service routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care they provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.