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Beacon Health Centre rated ‘Good’ by CQC

This in from the NHS in their own words. Ed


The Beacon Healthcare Centre at St. Mary’s Hospital has received an overall rating of ‘Good’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the national regulator for all healthcare providers in England.

In March of this year the CQC carried out a comprehensive, announced inspection of the Out of Hours service at St. Mary’s Hospital, which is a joint venture agreement between the Isle of Wight NHS Trust and Lighthouse Medical Ltd, and found the Beacon Health Centre to be good for providing safe, well-led, effective, caring and responsive services.

Good facilities and well equipped
During the visit the CQC spoke with a range of staff including GPs, practice nurses, managers, administration staff and patients to hear about their experiences and found the practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.

Staff treated patients with kindness and respect, maintained confidentiality and involved patients in decisions about their treatment.

Making best use of the resources
The systems used to ensure information about patients who used the out of hours service was shared with their own GP was effective and clinicians were able to prioritise patients and make the best use of the resources available. Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance.

Emergency equipment was well maintained and serviced and staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities, received appropriate training for their roles and staff felt supported by management.

Treated with compassion and dignity
Patients using the service said they found it easy to make an appointment and were treated with compassion and dignity. All of the comments made to the CQC were positive and emphasised the caring and respectful attitudes of staff and the excellent standards of care.

Commenting on the ‘Good’ rating, Dr Mark Denman-Johnson, Medical Director of the Beacon Health Centre, said:

“This is a great report with a score of good in all five areas and no recommended areas for improvement, after what was a robust review by the CQC. It is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the GPs, the Advanced Nurse practitioners, the Trust’s reception staff and the Lighthouse management team. Partnership with the Trust and especially the Emergency Department and 111 service allows us to provide an integrated service and have a patient centred focus.”

Isle of Wight NHS Trust Medical Director, Dr Mark Pugh, said:

“We are delighted to have received a good rating from the CQC for this service. The Beacon Health Centre is one of many areas that we are proud of and this is down to the staff and their commitment to ensuring patients consistently receive excellent care that is safe and of a high standard. We look forward to working with the Care Quality Commission to continually improve the standards of services we deliver.”

The full report is available on the Care Quality Commission website at www.cqc.org.uk

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