Archived: Ashford Walk-in Centre

Updated 24 July 2018

Ashford Walk-in Centre provides nurse-led care for urgent but not emergency conditions located in a dedicated area of the outpatient building at Ashford Hospital. This is a walk-in service for the population of Ashford and the surrounding areas of Surrey and Middlesex. The service is also available for patients who are registered with a GP elsewhere but work or are temporarily in this area. The service is commissioned by North West Surrey CCG to offer assessment, care and treatment for minor illnesses and minor injuries.

The service is provided in conjunction with Central Surrey Health and is one of four walk-in centres managed and operated by Greenbrook Healthcare. Across London and the home counties Greenbrook Healthcare also manages and operates eight urgent care centres, one GP practice, one GP out of hours service and an intermediate community response service.

The service is provided from 8am to 8pm seven days a week and operates everyday including bank holidays. If the centre gets too busy to safely see the number of patients presenting it has an early closing procedure where patients are redirected to the most appropriate service. When the service is closed patients can access the local Out of Hours service by calling NHS 111.

The service is provided by nine full time equivalent nurse practitioners, including Emergency Nurse practitioners, supported by paramedic practitioners and administration/reception staff. Clinical staff can be utilised from other Greenbrook sites and there is a bank of locum nurse and paramedic practitioners.

The service sees approximately 42,000 patients per year and can see on average 120 patients per day. The service assesses all patients presenting for treatment and re-directs those not suitable for nurse led care (for example, children under two, pregnant women and complex elderly patients) to the most appropriate local service. The walk-in centre also receives patients referred from NHS 111 and local ambulance services.

The service shares premises with other services including NHS trust clinics, a community hub and an x-ray department.

The service is registered with CQC to provide the following regulated activities; treatment of disease, disorder and injury and diagnostic and screening procedures.

The service is provided from:

Ashford Walk-in Centre

Ashford Hospital

London Road

Ashford

Surrey

TW15 3FE.

Updated 24 July 2018

This service is rated as Good overall.

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? – Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Ashford Walk-in Centre on 24 May 2018. This was the first time the service had been inspected.

At this inspection we found:

• The service had good 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 routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It 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.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice