Archived: Horizon Sexual Assault Referral Centre

Summary findings

We carried out this announced inspection on 31 May 2022 under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. We planned the inspection to check whether the registered provider was meeting the legal requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations. The inspection was led by a CQC inspector supported by a second CQC inspector.

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 form the framework for the areas we look at during the inspection.

Background

Hodge Hill Primary Care Centre is a sexual assault referral centre (SARC) commissioned by NHS England. The SARC service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (including public holidays) to provide advice to police and patients, deliver forensic medical examinations, provide support following recent and non-recent sexual abuse, and offer onward referrals to independent sexual violence advisors (ISVA) in the area.

G4S Health Services (UK) Limited are commissioned to deliver the SARC service, including forensic medical examinations, to patients aged 18 and over, which are undertaken by either a Forensic Nurse Examiner (FNE) or a Forensic Medical Examiner (FME).

The SARC is located in a residential area of Birmingham within a primary care centre. The SARC has a separate entrance to the rear of the building to give patients some privacy, and there is ample parking available for patients and visiting professionals. The SARC facilities are newly designed with two forensic pods- each including a pre-examination room, bathroom and medical examination room. There are additional rooms used for aftercare sessions, family waiting areas and visiting professionals such as counsellors. The facilities also include a staff bathroom, changing area, medicines room, several storage rooms and cleaning cupboards, as well as two staff offices and access to a training room. Kitchen facilities and visitor bathroom facilities are also available as well as office space and a room to develop into an ABE (achieving best evidence) suite for police video interviews.

During the inspection we spoke with the registered manager, team manager, two forensic nurse examiners and two crisis workers. We looked at policies and procedures, reports about the service, and eight patient records to learn about how the service was managed.

We left comment cards at the location the week prior to our visit but did not receive any feedback from patients.

Throughout this report we have used the term ‘patients’ to describe people who use the service to reflect our inspection of the clinical aspects of the SARC.

Our key findings were:

• The provider had systems to help them manage risks presented to the service.
• Staff received appropriate training to respond to emergencies. Appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were available.
• Staff provided caring and compassionare treatment in line with current guidelines.
• Staff treated patients with dignity and respect and took care to protect their privacy and personal information.
• The appointment/referral system was effective.
• Staff felt well supported by peers and managers.
• The provider encouraged staff and patient feedback about the services they provided and shared examples of where changes had been made as a result of this feedback.
• The provider had suitable information governance arrangements.
• The newly designed and renovated SARC environment was welcoming, clean, and offered excellent facilities for patients, visitors, professionals and staff working on site.

Infection control procedures reflected published guidance and had been adapted with Covid-19 guidance to ensure services remained available to patients throughout the pandemic.