HEALTH bosses are “extremely proud” of a new inspection report that has been published for a GP out-of-hours service.

East Lancashire Medical Services (Elms), a social enterprise formed by GPs, achieved five ‘good’ ratings from the Care Quality Commission (CQC), after its first visit from the watchdog under its beefed-up inspection regime.

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The CQC said its units were well-maintained, there were clear management structures to support staff and patients were treated with dignity, compassion and respect.

Its use of an electronic system to allow GPs to access to the front page of patients’ records, so long as they had consented, was also described as ‘outstanding’.

The CQC added: “This allowed GPs at the service to have read-only access to patients’ allergies, medication and any recent tests carried out by their GP.”

Diane Ridgway, chief executive, said: “Elms is delighted with the CQC report.

“It is some achievement to get to get an overall rating of good, and having each sub-section also rated as good takes some doing. “I am extremely proud of the result and it was truly a team effort, with the GP and receptionist on duty that night, and the management team, staff and Patient Voices Group playing a crucial role in the visit, which started at six in the evening and ended after midnight.”

The CQC examined the provision of overnight GP visits across Pennine Lancashire, as well as the Elms sites in Blackburn.

Russ McLean, official patient representative for Elms, said: “I’m absolutely thrilled at this glowing report and to be aligned with the organisation.

“It has come as a result of the organisation being truly patient-focused and listening to patients.”

Elms is based at St Ives House on Accrington Road, which was included in the inspection, as was its former base next to the emergency department at the Royal Blackburn Hospital.

This unit was centralised at St Ives House shortly after the inspection, but Elms still has a GP operating within the Urgent Care Centre at the Royal Blackburn. It also has a base at Burnley General Hospital, which is due to be inspected soon.