Urgent Treatment Centre Shrewsbury

Updated 15 February 2018

Shropshire Walk-In Centre provider organisation is Malling Health who joined with IMH Group during 2015 and is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The Walk-In-Centre was located in Whitehall, Monkmoor, Shrewsbury and runs alongside Whitehall Medical Practice under an Alternative Medical Provider Services (APMS) contract. The practice provided both a traditional GP service for registered patients at Whitehall Medical Practice with a walk in element for any patient. In December 2014, a contract variation took place that led to the GP practice remaining in Monkmoor, Shrewsbury and the walk in element of the service moving to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital A&E department. This inspection is of the service provided at the Shropshire Walk in Centre only.

Shropshire Walk In Centre is open from 8am to 8pm every day of the year. During the services opening times reception staff, employed by Malling Health/IMH Group, work within the local hospital’s A&E reception area booking patients into the service following triage completed by the A&E nursing staff, which changed in July 2016 to a ‘Patient streaming protocol’. The commissioners of the service set out the range of expected patient conditions to be seen which includes a list of minor illnesses. The service does not routinely order blood tests or x-rays for walk in patients. If a test is required, patients are referred back to their own GP. If an urgent referral to a speciality is needed, patients are referred to either to their own GP or back to A&E.

The Shropshire Walk In Centre staffing consists of a lead GP (female) giving 0.45 whole time equivalent (WTE) hours, and a regular sessional GP providing 0.2 WTE a regular sessional GP who provides ad hoc hours when required as well as a team of six regular locum GPs. There are three Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANP) providing 2.2 WTE hours and two female Healthcare Assistants (0.2 WTE). The service is supported by a Practice Manager (1 WTE across two locations) and a senior receptionist with three reception/administration staff.

Additional information about the service is available on their website www.mallinghealth.co.uk

Updated 15 February 2018

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We previously carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Shropshire Walk In Centre on 29 September 2016 as part of our regulatory functions. The service was rated as requires improvement for providing effective and well led services. The inspection report on the 29 September 2016 can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Shropshire Walk In Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

An announced focused inspection was carried out 15 May 2017. We found improvements had been made and the overall rating for the service was good with requires improvement in providing a well led service. The follow up inspection report on the 15 May 2017 can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Shropshire Walk In Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

This inspection was an announced focused inspection carried out on 25 January 2018 to confirm that the service had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breaches in regulations identified in our previous inspection on 15 May 2017. This report covers our findings in relation to those requirements and additional improvements made since our last inspection.

This service is rated as Good overall.

At this inspection we found:

• The Walk In Centre had implemented a system to assess, monitor and improve the quality and safety of the services by ensuring receipt of all appropriate patient safety and medicine alerts to enable appropriate action to be taken.

• There was an effective system in place for the management and security of prescription stationery.

• A system was in place to document learning from events including positive events and these were shared internally and wider for organisational learning.

• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice