Archived: SW Healthcare Droitwich Medical Centre

Updated 30 April 2018

SW Healthcare Limited (SWH) is a GP Federation of 32 practices serving 303,000 patients in Worcestershire, operating from offices in Droitwich Medical Centre, Ombersley Street East, Droitwich, WR9 8RD. Their website provides more detailed information about their services. www.swhealthcare.org.uk.

SWH was registered with CQC to provide a remote clinical access service until changes were made to their contract in February 2018. We are aware of these changes and are discussing changes to registration with the provider separately from this inspection.

SWH holds an Alternative Provider Medical Contract (APMS) with NHS England. The APMS contract is a contract between general practices and NHS England for delivering primary care services to local communities.

SWH is managed by a board of six, including five elected GP partners. They are supported by an executive team consisting of a chief executive officer and a senior management support team. SWH now provides services in Worcestershire through four primary care hubs offering local GP and nurse extended hours services to patients from across the county. Seven day access is provided at two of the hubs, Farrier House in Worcester and Riverside Surgery in Evesham. These hubs provide appointments from 6.30pm to 8.30pm on weekdays and 8am to 8pm on weekends and bank holidays. Two other hubs which are based at Prospect View Surgery, located in Malvern and Spa Medical Practice located in Droitwich Medical Centre provide services for patients on Saturday mornings.

The hubs have been chosen to best serve the rural and geographically diverse population in Worcestershire. Patients can be seen by direct appointment arranged by the patients’ own practice. Details of the appointment are made available to the patient’s regular GP. SWH plan to develop their system so that patients could be given an appointment through triaged referral by NHS 111 or the West Midlands Ambulance Service in the future.

Updated 30 April 2018

This service is rated as Good overall. This service has not previously been inspected.

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? Rated Good

Are services effective? Rated Good

Are services caring? Rated Good

Are services responsive? Rated Good

Are services well-led? Rated Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of SW Healthcare Limited on 20 March 2018 as part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

• There were clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. Incidents were discussed when they happened so that learning and improvements could be implemented as necessary. All incidents were kept under annual review to ensure any changes to procedures were embedded.
• There was a system for recording, actioning and tracking patient safety alerts. Alerts had been reviewed and action taken where appropriate.
• All appropriate recruitment checks had been carried out on staff prior to being employed by the service.
• There was a service development plan that documented both their long and short-term priorities.
• The leadership, governance and culture were used to drive and improve the delivery of its service. All staff were involved in the development of the service and were proud of their achievements.
• Staff involved and treated people with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
• Feedback from patients about their care was consistently positive.
• There was a focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice