The Care Quality Commission has rated the North East London NHS Treatment Centre as Requires Improvement after a CQC inspection in January 2017.
NHS treatment centres are private-sector owned and are contracted to treat NHS patients free at the point of use. In 2014, the centre was acquired by Care UK Clinical Services Ltd, the largest independent provider of NHS services in England.
The centre provides adult inpatient and day case elective surgery with associated outpatient and diagnostic clinics across five disciplines: orthopaedics, general surgery, ophthalmology, oral surgery and endoscopy. It provides services to people living in North East London and Essex.
The centre has 21 bed inpatient facilities and 24 day case beds. There are six theatres that operate Monday to Saturday.
CQC inspected two core services: surgery and the outpatients department. Inspectors found that NELTC was rated Requires Improvement for being safe and well-led. It was rated Good for being effective, caring and responsive.
During CQC’s inspection which was carried out in September and October 2016, inspectors found that:
- Resuscitation training compliance was low for clinical staff.
- Medication was left unattended or in an unlocked cupboard within an unattended room.
- When reviewing patient records, inspectors found some consent forms were missing patient identification details.
There were good patient outcomes in surgical specialities. Inspectors generally observed staff interacting with patients in a respectful and considerate manner and managers said that staff were encouraged to be open and transparent.
Professor Sir Mike Richards, England’s Chief inspector of Hospitals, said:
“While there are areas that the North East London NHS Treatment Centre needs to improve - in three of the five categories we rate - it achieved a Good rating from our inspection team. More work needs to be done, to improve the well-led and safe ratings."
“There was not sufficient oversight or risk management in place for patients coming from the local NHS acute hospital for treatment. Many staff we spoke with stated this was due to unclear communication and difference in operating procedures.”
The full report is available to view or download on our website.
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There was not sufficient oversight or risk management in place for patients coming from the local NHS acute hospital for treatment
Professor Sir Mike Richards, CQC’s Chief inspector of Hospitals