Prognosis “Good” for emergency healthcare service

BARDOC

Rochdale’s out-of-hours medical service has received a “Good” rating from Britain’s national health watchdog - plus a resounding vote of confidence from its patients.

BARDOC had its surgery within the Rochdale Urgent Care Centre examined by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), receiving a positive rating in everything from the safety of its services to the caring nature of its staff.

And in studies to back up the inspection, 88% of Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale (HMR) patients said they had confidence in the out-of-hours clinician they saw or spoke to, while 92% of BARDOC patients would recommend the service to their family and friends.

The CQC inspected BARDOC back in February. They quizzed staff and patients, scrutinised BARDOC’s systems (including ways to report and learn from incidents), examined premises and vehicles and studied patient feedback. They awarded the not-for-profit organisation a “Good” rating across the board and deemed initiatives to help vulnerable patients and reduce unnecessary admissions to emergency units to be, “Outstanding.”

Amongst the positives in the report were:

• The skills, knowledge and experience of the staff, who include GPs, nurse practitioners, call handlers, dentists and drivers
• The polite, caring nature of that staff – who arranged appointments at a convenient time, constantly consulted patients about their care and respected privacy and cultural sensitivities 
• The “culture of openness and honesty” at BARDOC and support from management who were, “visible on shifts on a daily basis to support the smoother running of the service”
• The particular care BARDOC took with vulnerable adults and children – even equipping their cars with blankets, water and other essentials for patients who were really struggling

Praising the way BARDOC engaged with the public and were prepared to learn lessons from things that might have gone wrong, the inspectors noted: “BARDOC prided themselves on being a forward thinking organisation which led change in collaboration with other providers.”

BARDOC Chief Executive Vicky Riding believes that partnership working is pivotal to the success of what is now one of Britain’s longest running out-of-hours emergency healthcare providers. “Our longevity means understand our community totally and from day one back in 1996, we have been committed to serving it. It also means that we have been able to forge long-established partnerships with other healthcare providers and patient groups which has helped to join up health and social care in Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale and made us the envy of other organisations across the country.”

“It is important that we use this CQC inspection to learn lessons and improve still further” continued Vicky, “there is no room for complacency in this fast moving world and our patients will know that we are always seeking their opinions in our quest to get better. But this report is also an opportunity to thank our superb staff who spend unsociable hours caring for the people of Rochdale and quite literally save lives. I am so pleased their dedication has been recognised.”

The Care Quality Commission is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. They describe their aim as: “We make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and we encourage care services to improve.”

Aside from personal inspections, the CQC use NHS Friends and Family Tests (an anonymous patient feedback survey) plus the National GP Survey (published July 2016) to measure patient satisfaction.