The Care Quality Commission
  • Clinic
  • Slimming clinic

Archived: National Slimming Centres (Brighton)

20 New Road, Brighton, West Sussex, BN1 1UF (01273) 674488

Provided and run by:
Codegrange Limited

Important: The provider of this service changed. See new profile

All Inspections

10 April 2018

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out an announced focused inspection of National Slimming Centres (Brighton) on 10 April 2018. This inspection was carried out to check that the service had made improvements to meet legal requirements following our comprehensive inspection on 6 June 2017. We reviewed the service against three of the five questions we ask about services: is the service safe, effective and responsive? This is because the service was not previously meeting some legal requirements.

Our findings were:

Are services safe?

We found that this service was providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services effective?

We found that this service was providing effective care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services responsive?

We found that this service was providing responsive care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the service was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

CQC inspected the service on 6 June 2017 and asked the provider to make improvements regarding safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment. We checked these areas as part of this focused inspection and found this had been resolved.

This service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of the provision of advice or treatment by, or under the supervision of, a medical practitioner, including the prescribing of medicines for the purposes of weight reduction. At National Slimming Centres (Brighton) the aesthetic cosmetic treatments that are also provided are exempt by law from CQC regulation. Therefore, we were only able to inspect the treatment for weight reduction, but not the aesthetic cosmetic services.

Our key findings were:

  • Changes have been made at the service to meet its legal requirements in relation to safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment

There were areas where the provider could make improvements and should:

  • Only supply unlicensed medicines against valid special clinical needs of an individual patient where there is no suitable licensed medicine available

6 June 2017

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 6 June 2017 to ask the service the following key questions; Are services safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led?

Our findings were:

Are services safe?

We found that this practice was not providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations. The impact of our concerns, in terms of the safety of clinical care, is minor for patients using the service. Once the shortcomings have been put right the likelihood of them occurring in the future is low. We have told the provider to take action (see full details of this action in the Requirement Notices at the end of this report). We will be following up on our concerns to ensure they have been put right by the provider.

Are services effective?

We found that this service was providing effective care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services caring?

We found that this service was providing caring services in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services responsive?

We found that this service was providing responsive care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services well-led?

We found that this service was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the service was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Background

National Slimming Centre – Brighton is a private slimming clinic. The clinic consists of a reception, consulting room and an office, which are located on the second floor of 20 New Street in a shopping area of Brighton. The clinic has lift access and shared toilet facilities with other organisations within the building.

Staff include a clinic manager, two part-time doctors and a receptionist. The clinic is open three days during the week and Saturday mornings. The clinic provides advice on weight loss and prescribed medicines to support weight reduction.

The new manager of the service began work on the day of the inspection, but had not started the process to become the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Nine patients completed CQC comment cards to tell us what they thought about the service. All of the comments provided were positive about the doctor and the staff.

Our key findings were:

  • Staff told us that they felt supported to carry out their roles and responsibilities.
  • We found that feedback from patients was always positive about the care they received, the helpfulness of staff and the cleanliness of the premises.
  • The provider had systems in place to monitor the quality of the service being provided

We identified regulations that were not being met and the provider must:

  • Ensure patients are protected from abuse and improper treatment.

You can see full details of the regulations not being met at the end of this report.

There were areas where the provider could make improvements and should:

  • Review the training provided to chaperones and non-clinical staff in the event of a medical emergency.
  • Only supply unlicensed medicines against valid clinical needs of an individual person where there is no suitable licensed medicine available.
  • Review processes for monitoring long term clinical outcomes.
  • Review access to translation services.

28 November 2013

During a routine inspection

We carried out an inspection at this location as concerns were identified in outcomes relating to medications, requirements relating to workers and records held by the service at our last inspection. We found evidence that the provider had addressed the shortfalls identified.

We found that people who used the service were cared for by staff who were fit, appropriately qualified and were physically fit and mentally able to do their job.

People were protected from the risks associated with the unsafe use and management of medicines, by means of making appropriate arrangements for obtaining, recording, handling, using, safekeeping, dispensing, safe administration and disposal of medicines.

The staff records we viewed demonstrated that the provider took appropriate steps to ensure that people had their needs met by staff who are fit, appropriately qualified and are physically fit to do their job.

Records held by the service was stored safely, securely and promoted client confidentiality.

17 January 2013

During a routine inspection

As part of this inspection we spoke with the registered manager of the clinic (referred to as the manager throughout the report), two receptionists, a doctor and six people who had received treatment from the clinic.

People who had received treatment from told us that they were very happy with the service they had received. They told us they had been assessed at their initial consultation. They told us that they had provided their personal weight loss and medical history. They confirmed they had been supplied with information relating to the importance of a healthy diet and exercise. They had also been provided with information leaflets in relation to the side affects of the medicines they had been prescribed. They confirmed with us they were aware they had been prescribed medicines that were central stimulants that are not recommended for the treatment of obesity. They confirmed they had given their consent to the treatment.

We found that medicines had been ordered and stored safely. However shortfalls were identified in relation to the management of medicines. The reasons why medicines had been prescribed had not always been recorded.

We found that identity and security checks had not been completed for all staff prior to them starting work in the clinic. Staff files did not contain all the required information in relation to their health and work history. Staff had not been following, the clinic's own policy in relation to the retention of records.

19 March 2012

During a routine inspection

People told us that they received courteous and professional advice before, during and after treatments. They said they were offered choices and given options at all stages of their care. When we asked people if they were given enough information to ensure that they were able to make considered decisions regarding their treatment.

People said they received treatment and care from well trained, polite and knowledgeable staff in clean and comfortable surroundings. We were told that the staff focus was on patient comfort and great care was taken to respect peoples' privacy and dignity.

We were told that people who used the service were continuously asked for their view on the service and the treatment they received. The most recent feedback described the service as 'excellent' and stated that staff were 'very polite, respectful and excellent in their care'.

People understood how to make a complaint if they were unhappy with the services they received.