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 West Midlands Integrated Urgent Care - Worcester Out of Hours on 28 and 29 March 2018 as part of our inspection programme.

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.
• Systems were in place to manage people who experienced long waits. For example, a telephone call (called a ‘comfort call’) was made to patients to check on their welfare and ensure their situation had not changed.
• The service had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs. The vehicles used for home visits were clean and well equipped.
• The service had systems in place to forward plan for times of high demand for example bank holidays.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by the management team.
• Care UK carried out an annual staff survey and had increased responses overall from the 2016 results for example, the number of staff who would recommend Care UK services to a someone needing care had increased from 57% in the 2016 survey to 88% in 2017.

• 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