• Doctor
  • Independent doctor

Archived: Weekend Service (Rayleigh)

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Audley Mills, 57 Eastwood Road, Rayleigh, SS6 7JF 07709 218854

Provided and run by:
GP Healthcare Alliance Ltd

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 15 August 2022

Background to Weekend Service (Rayleigh)

Weekend Service (Rayleigh) is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), to provide NHS extended hours service. These services are provided from Audley Mills Surgery, in Rayleigh, Essex.

The provider of this service is GP Healthcare Alliance which is a group of 18 GP practices in five primary care networks (PCNs) in Castle Point, Rochford and Rayleigh in Essex, working together to provide healthcare services for practices and patients. All member practices remain independent but work collaboratively to deliver and improve healthcare within the area. The administrative records for Weekend Service (Rayleigh) are held at Headquarters, Mulberry Road, Canvey Island, and this location was inspected separately. The provider has another location, GPHA Clinical Site and this location has not yet been inspected.

The surgery is situated in Rayleigh town centre with a large car park to the rear. There is parking for the disabled and access and treatment rooms are also accessible.

The staff who work at this service are directly employed by GP Healthcare Alliance who also manage a team of bank staff to minimise the use of locums. GP Healthcare Alliance also directly employ all of the healthcare professionals for the PCNs they work with.

The service provides extended access appointments via:

  • The patient’s registered GP
  • NHS 111
  • Direct telephone contact for same-day appointments.

The service is led by a GP and includes a clinical nurse manager, an operations manager, an operations supervisor, two administrators, bank staff including ten GPs, nine nurses and twelve receptionists.

The service is provided on a Saturday and Sunday from 9am – 3pm and the same hours on bank holidays.

The service for patients requiring medical care outside of these and their registered GP surgery hours is provided by the NHS 111 service.

How we inspected this service

Throughout the pandemic CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, taking into account the circumstances arising as a result of the pandemic, and in order to reduce risk, we have conducted our inspections differently.

This included:

  • Evidence from the provider
  • A short site visit
  • Interviews with staff
  • Staff questionnaires via email
  • Review of internal data
  • Feedback from the Integrated Care Board (ICB).

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.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 15 August 2022

This service is rated as Good overall. This is the first inspection for this service.

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? – Outstanding

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Weekend Service (Rayleigh) on 24 July 2022 as part of our comprehensive inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

  • The service had effective systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When they did happen, the service learned from them and improved their processes.
  • The service reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care they provided. They ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence-based guidelines.
  • Staff involved and treated people with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
  • Patients were able to access care and treatment from the service within an appropriate timescale for their needs.

We saw areas of outstanding practice:

  • The provider’s approach to service delivery had integration at the heart of service development. They worked in coordination with others to make sure they were meeting the needs of the local population. The service was a key component of wider system integration and formed a part of Integrated Care Board’s overall provision. They were agile in working across the sector to set up new services, in response to patient needs and the wider health economy. They made sure they listened to the patient voice when developing or improving services.
  • There was a systematic and integrated approach to monitoring, reviewing and providing evidence of progress. Plans were consistently implemented and had a positive impact on quality.
  • Quality improvement was an essential component of the provider’s strategy. We found they had comprehensive quality and improvement systems, supported by a thorough approach to audit. There was a strong focus on improvement within the service by seeking out and embedding new ways of providing care and treatment.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

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