The Safe Centre at Royal Preston Hospital treats patients who have suffered from sexual assault with 'dignity and respect', say inspectors

The findings come from Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors who visited The Safe Centre, which is based at Royal Preston Hospital, for the first time.

Official ratings are not given to Safe or Sexual Assault Forensic Examination centres but inspectors have published their key findings following a visit to the centre in December 2018.

The watchdog found that clinical staff provided patient care and treatment in line with current guidelines, that staff knew how to deal with emergencies, that they worked well as a team and that the service had an “effective leadership and culture of continuous improvement”.

They also said that the service was safe, effective, caring, responsive to people’s needs and well-led.

Gail Naylor, nursing, midwifery and allied health professionals director, said: “We are delighted that the CQC has recognised the excellent care and support that our Safe Centre staff gives to patients.

“This is the first time that the CQC has carried out a SAFE Centre inspection so we are extremely proud that they have identified us as an area of good practice, which reflects the hard work of our staff to provide excellent care with compassion.”

Inspectors also told the centre that it needed to make improvements to make sure that governance arrangements are “fully embedded” into the service including risk assessments, incident reporting and learning, record keeping and audit procedures.

They also advised that the Safe Centre should ensure that referral arrangements to and from partner health services are formalised.

In Lancashire, services for support and examination of people who have experienced sexual assault are commissioned by NHS England and Lancashire Constabulary.

The Safe Centre provides these services to adults and children from all over the county.