METRO Pitstop Clinic receives exceptional report from CQC
METRO Charity's Pitstop Clinic, for men who have sex with men, receives an exceptional report following CQC inspection.
Pitstop and its online companion Pitstop PLUS, provide a sexual health one-stop-shop for men who have sex with men, offering free testing, partner notification, and condoms combined with the latest sexual health information and the ability to self-refer into a range of more holistic services.
The Pitstop clinic operates a drop-in service on Wednesday between 6:30pm and 8:30pm at METRO Greenwich, on Greenwich High Road, and on Saturdays from 11:00am to 1:00pm from within the Market Street Health Centre in Woolwich.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC), the independent regulator of health and social care in England, last week published their report following METRO's first inspection which took place in March this year.
"We are simply delighted that our first ever inspection by the CQC has highlighted what an exceptional service Pitstop is. Last year alone we supported over 500 men through our Pitstop suite of services.
"We know how important community led spaces are in encouraging testing and offering the best, most appropriately tailored support and sexual health information.", Dr Greg Ussher, METRO CEO.
The CQC report highlighted five areas of outstanding practice - ranging from Pitstop's innovative website and digital outreach, through to responses to community safety issues and integration with other services across the charity - with no areas for improvement.
Councillor David Gardner, Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care, said: "The Royal Borough of Greenwich commissions METRO Charity’s Pitstop Clinic so we are delighted that the CQC shares our view that they deliver innovative and outstanding work.
“The clinic provides a valuable safe space and was judged to be safe, effective, caring, responsive to people’s needs and well-led so congratulations to all the staff and volunteers who work there.”
Quotes from people using the Pitstop clinic captured in the report included:
"I love that I can check my clinic results online."
"It's great that there is a service like this and it's really relaxed. It takes some of the stress out of coming to a clinic."
"I found the staff and atmosphere very pleasant. The advice was excellent and the site was clean and comfortable."
You can find the Inspection Summary and full Inspection Report on the CQC website.