Archived: Clatterbridge NHS Dialysis Unit

Updated 8 August 2019

Clatterbridge NHS Dialysis Unit is operated by Fresenius Medical Care Renal Services Ltd. The Clatterbridge dialysis unit opened in June 2008 and primarily serves the Wirral area population, with occasional access to services for people who are referred for holiday dialysis. The service provides haemodialysis treatment to adults.

The service’s registered manager has been in post since January 2011. The registered manager (clinic manager) was available for the announced inspections. Fresenius Medical Care Renal Services Ltd has a registered manager for this location who has been in post since October 2010.

The unit is registered for the following regulated activities:

• Treatment of disease disorder or injury.

CQC previously inspected the unit in June 2017; we did not rate the service in that inspection. Our May 2019 inspection confirmed that previous requirement notices from that inspection had been addressed by the provider.

Updated 8 August 2019

Clatterbridge NHS Dialysis Unit is operated by Fresenius Medical Care Renal Services Ltd. The unit has 10 dialysis stations in the main ward and two stations in side rooms.

The service provides dialysis services for people over the age of 18; it does not provide treatment for children.

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.

We inspected this service using our comprehensive inspection methodology. We carried out the inspection on 29 May 2019. We provided short-notice of the inspection as we needed to be sure that key people would be available during our inspection.

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

Services we rate

We have not previously rated this service. We rated it as Good overall.

• 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 unit 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 effective care and treatment, supported patients with dietary advice on food and drink and assessed and monitored patients regularly throughout their dialysis treatment. The unit manager monitored the effectiveness of the service and made sure staff were competent in their roles. Multidisciplinary team 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 local people, 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 for treatment. Complaints were investigated and responded to effectively.
• Leaders ran services well using reliable information systems and supported staff to develop their skills. Staff understood their roles in meeting 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 accountabilities. The service engaged with patients and its commissioning trust to plan and manage the service. Staff were committed to continually improving the service.

We found areas of practice that require improvement:

• At the time of the inspection, the sluice room was unlocked, and there was no lock on the bin store. Although these were in staff only areas and therefore low risk, the provider should consider how it can prevent unauthorised access into the sluice room and bin store.
• Patients told us they sometimes experienced difficulty with the tuning of the television sets at their dialysis stations.

Following this inspection, we told the provider that it should make some improvements, even though a regulation had not been breached, to help the service improve. Details are at the end of the report.

Ann Ford

Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals (North)

Updated 8 August 2019

We rated the services delivered by Clatterbridge NHS Dialysis Unit as good. This was because services were delivered in a safe and effective way that protected patients from harm. Patients were involved in the care and treatment which was delivered with kindness and compassion. The services delivered by the unit were designed to meet and be responsive to the needs of the people it served, and as individuals. The service was led by a passionate unit manager who promoted a positive culture of success throughout the service.