Genesis Care, Chelmsford

Updated 30 October 2019

Genesis Care Chelmsford is operated by Genesis Cancer care UK Limited. The service opened in July 2016. It is a healthcare facility in Chelmsford, Essex. The hospital primarily serves the communities of the Essex area. It also accepts patient referrals from outside this area.

The hospital has had a registered manager in post since 13 July 2016. At the time of the inspection, the registered manager was the deputy centre leader and registered with the Care Quality Commission from 15 July 2019.

Genesis Care Chelmsford is a cancer treatment and wellbeing centre which offers outpatient radiotherapy treatment and assesses the patient’s response to their treatment. The radiotherapy service delivers pinpoint, external beam radiotherapy treatments to accurately treat many types of cancers including but not limited to; prostate, breast, colorectal, head and neck, cancers. The service also provides care for non-cancer conditions such as Dupuytren’s disease (one or more fingers permanently bent towards the palm).

Updated 30 October 2019

Genesis Care Chelmsford is operated by Genesis Cancer care UK Limited. The service has no inpatient or overnight beds. Facilities include one radiotherapy treatment rooms, a quiet room, waiting room and reception area.

The service provides radiotherapy treatment but not diagnostic treatment for only those patients that have private funding and a confirmed diagnosis of cancer and some benign conditions.

We inspected this service using our comprehensive inspection methodology. We carried out the unannounced part of the inspection on 13 August 2019, along with a further unannounced visit to the hospital on 23 August 2019.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we ask the same five questions of all services: are they safe, effective, caring, responsive to people's needs, and well-led? Where we have a legal duty to do so we rate services’ performance against each key question as outstanding, good, requires improvement or inadequate.

Throughout the inspection, we took account of what people told us and how the provider understood and complied with the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

The main service provided by this centre was radiotherapy.

Services we rate

We rated it as Good overall.

We found good practice in relation to this cancer service:

• The service had enough staff to care for patients and keep them safe. Staff had training in key skills, understood how to protect patients from abuse, and managed safety well. The service controlled infection risk well. Staff assessed risks to patients, acted on them and kept good care records. The service managed safety incidents well although learned lessons from them needs to be shared with all staff. Staff collected safety information and used it to improve the service.

• Staff provided good care and treatment, gave patients enough to eat and drink, and referred them for pain relief when they needed it. Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service and made sure staff were competent. Staff worked well together for the benefit of patients, advised them on how to lead healthier lives, supported them to make decisions about their care, and had access to good information.

• Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, took account of their individual needs, and helped them understand their conditions. They provided emotional support to patients, families and carers.

• The service planned care to meet the needs of local people, took account of patients’ individual needs, and made it easy for people to give feedback. People could access the service when they needed it and did not have to wait too long for treatment.

• Leaders ran services well using reliable information systems and supported staff to develop their skills. Staff understood the service’s vision and values, and how to apply them in their work. Staff felt respected, supported and valued. They were focused on the needs of patients receiving care. Staff were clear about their roles and accountabilities. The service engaged well with patients and the community to plan and manage services and all staff were committed to improving services continually.

Heidi Smoult

Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals (on behalf of the Chief Inspector of Hospitals)

Updated 30 October 2019

The service provided cancer radiotherapy treatment.

We rated this service as good overall because it was safe, effective, caring and responsive, and well led.