Gateway House

Updated 7 September 2022

Gateway House service operates from within premises located at Gateway House, Bromborough, Wirral.

They provide dermatology, minor surgery and ENT consultations and operations to people aged 18 years and over.

Gateway House service consists of eight doctors who are specialists in their field of work, assisted by a nurse or healthcare assistant. The clinical team are supported by administrative staff and a service manager.

Opening hours/hours of operation:

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 8am – 5pm

Thursday 8am – 6pm

Saturday morning clinics are offered on an ad hoc basis

The service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care 2008 to provide the following Regulated Activities:

Diagnostic and screening procedures

Surgical procedures

Treatment of disease, disorder or injury

How we inspected this service

Before visiting we reviewed information we hold about the service and asked the service to send us information. This included their latest statement of purpose, details of staff employed including their qualifications and proof of registration with their professional bodies. As part of the inspection we reviewed feedback gathered from patients, spoke to the registered manager, senior managers and non-clinical and clinical staff. We reviewed a range of documents.

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 September 2022

This service is rated as Good overall.

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? – Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Gateway House as part of our inspection programme. This location was registered in 2021, having previously been registered at a different location. This location has not yet been inspected or rated since its new registration.

The provider Peninsula Health LLP offers minor surgical procedures, dermatology and ENT under a contract with NHS England. Patients are referred to the service by their usual Wirral based GP. Services are provided at Gateway House and at St. George’s Medical Centre (minor surgery).

The service manager is the 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.

Our key findings were:

• Patients received care that was delivered safely and effectively.
• Clinicians assessed patients according to appropriate guidance, legislation and standards and delivered care and treatment in line with current evidence-based guidance.
• There were enough staff who were suitably qualified and trained.
• Patients received detailed and clear information about their proposed treatment which enabled them to make an informed decision. This included risks and benefits of treatment.
• Pre-operative and post-operative care and advice was clear and written information was available in different formats.
• Patients were offered appointments and treatment in a timely manner.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
• There was an effective governance framework in place in order to gain feedback and to assess, monitor and improve the quality of the services provided.
• The provider was aware of the requirements of the Duty of Candour.

The area where the provider should make improvements are:

• Review the cleaning equipment store cupboard to create a store that is fit for purpose.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

Chief Inspector of Hospitals and Interim Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services