AN URGENT treatment and primary medical service in Birmingham and Solihull has been rated outstanding by health watchdogs.
The service at Birmingham and District General Practitioner Emergency Room Limited (Badger) was inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in November and December.
Badger provides in-hours and out-of-hours (OOH) GP services for its GP member practices.
The service also has contracts with Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board to provide urgent treatment in and out-of-hours when GP practices are closed. Services are also provided to St Giles Hospice in Whittington and to HMP Birmingham.
Amanda Lyndon, CQC deputy director of operations in the Midlands, said: “When we inspected Badger, we found a service where managers and staff went the extra mile to ensure people received the best possible care. The service really understood what people needed.
“Staff told us there were no time restrictions on how long clinicians could spend with people using the service.
“During the inspection staff told us about projects that had arisen directly as a result of responding to people’s feedback. For example, a meet and greet staff member at the urgent treatment centre at Solihull Hospital to help support people and prioritise people with more urgent needs, and the implementation of a new booking system, that enabled people to control which urgent treatment centre they attended.”
CQC inspectors also noted the service had effective systems in place to safeguard children and vulnerable adults and to ensure no contacts were lost and the service had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen.
Dr Waqar Azmi, chief executive of Badger Health Group said: “This achievement is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our entire team, who are committed to providing the highest quality of care to our patients.
“I believe the CQC report captured the heart of Badger when it said: ‘People were truly respected and valued as individuals and were empowered as partners in their
care, practically and emotionally, by an exceptional and unique service.
“Many of the comments left by patients included that they valued the service and thought there should be more Urgent Treatment Centres like the ones provided by Badger.’”
