Genesis Care, Milton Keynes

Updated 26 April 2021

Genesis Care Milton Keynes is an independent provider of cancer services and is one of fourteen locations across the country. It offers chemotherapy, radiotherapy and the associated diagnostic and outpatient services to local patients and to those from abroad.

The service is operated from a modern, standalone building which is not shared with any other healthcare provider. The unit was open from 8am until 8pm each weekday although therapies only took place from 8:30am until 5pm.

Genesis Care Milton Keynes has a registered manager in position who has been in post for two years.

The regulated activities are:

• Treatment of disease, disorder or injury
• Family planning
• Diagnostics and screening.

The main service provided by the centre was cancer care. We have inspected and reported all cancer care services under the CQC Cancer Assessment Framework.

Updated 26 April 2021

This was the first rated inspection for Genesis Care Milton Keynes. We rated it as good because:

• The service had enough staff to care for patients and keep them safe. Staff had training in key skills, understood how to protect patients from abuse, and managed safety well. The service controlled infection risk well. Staff assessed risks to patients, acted on them and kept good care records. They managed medicines well. The service managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them. Staff collected safety information and used it to improve the service.
• Staff provided good care and treatment, gave patients enough to eat and drink, and gave them pain relief when they needed it. Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service and made sure staff were competent. Staff worked well together for the benefit of patients, advised them on how to lead healthier lives, supported them to make decisions about their care, and had access to good information.
• Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, took account of their individual needs, and helped them understand their conditions. They provided emotional support to patients, families and carers.
• The service planned care to meet the needs of the people who used it, took account of patients’ individual needs, and made it easy for people to give feedback. People could access the service when they needed it and did not have to wait too long for treatment.
• Leaders ran services well using reliable information systems and supported staff to develop their skills. Staff understood the service’s vision and values, and how to apply them in their work. Staff felt respected, supported and valued. They were focused on the needs of patients receiving care. Staff were clear about their roles and accountabilities. The service engaged well with patients and the community to plan and manage services and all staff were committed to improving services continually.

However:

• Some fire safety requirements were not adhered to.
• Some policies were unclear and contradictory.

Updated 26 April 2021

GenesisCare Milton Keyes is operated by Genesis Cancer Care UK Limited. The centre provides diagnosis and treatment to patients over 18 years old.

The service offers both chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments in a modern purpose-built facility.

There is a wellbeing centre and an exercise clinic. There are no overnight beds.

We inspected this service using our comprehensive inspection methodology and using our cancer framework. We carried out an unannounced inspection on 9 February 2021.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we ask the same five questions of all services: are they safe, effective, caring, responsive to people's needs, and well-led? Where we have a legal duty to do so we rate services’ performance against each key question as outstanding, good, requires improvement or inadequate.

Throughout the inspection, we took account of what people told us and how the provider understood and complied with the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

The main service provided by this hospital was oncology.