Archived: National Slimming Centres (Portsmouth)

Updated 15 February 2018

We previously carried out a comprehensive inspection on 19 January 2016. The service received requirement notices for Regulation 12 (safe care and treatment) and Regulation 13 (safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment) HSCA (RA) Regulations 2014. This was because the registered provider:

• Had not always ensured that staff had the relevant competence and skills to enable them to provide safe care and treatment
• Was not supplying medicines in accordance with its own policies
• Did not have robust systems and processes in place to prevent the abuse of patients.

We carried out a follow up inspection on 12 December 2017 to check whether the service was now compliant. We found that the service was now compliant with the regulations.

The inspection was led and supported by two pharmacist specialists, who are members of the CQC medicines team.

Before visiting, we looked at a range of information that we hold about the service. We reviewed the last inspection report from January 2016 and information submitted by the service in response to our provider information request. During our visit, we reviewed comment cards completed by the patients who used the service, interviewed staff, observed practice and reviewed documents.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask the following five questions:

• Is it safe?
• Is it effective?
• Is it caring?
• Is it responsive to people’s needs?
• Is it well-led?

These questions therefore formed the framework for the areas we looked at during the inspection.

Updated 15 February 2018

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 12 December 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 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 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.

Background

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 19 January 2016 and asked the provider to make improvements regarding safe care and treatment and safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment. We checked these areas as part of this comprehensive inspection and found this had been resolved.

The concerns we previously identified were that the registered provider:

• Had not always ensured that staff had the relevant competence and skills to enable them to provide safe care and treatment
• Was not supplying medicines in accordance with its own policies
• Did not have robust systems and processes in place to prevent the abuse of patients.

National Slimming Centres (Portsmouth) provides weight loss treatment and services, including prescribed medicines and dietary advice, to people in Portsmouth accessing the service. The service consists of two rooms and a toilet on the first floor of a shared building in a city centre location. The service is open for half a day on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.

A doctor, supported by a receptionist and centre manager, runs the service. The centre manager is also 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. 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.

14 people provided feedback about the service on CQC comment cards. All the feedback was positive about the staff and the service provided. The comments included complements on the information and advice provided by staff at the service.

Our key findings were:

• All policies had been reviewed and updated following the previous CQC inspection in 2016
• Additional safeguarding training had been undertaken by staff
• Staff told us they worked well as a team and were supported to carry out their roles and responsibilities
• Patient feedback was positive about their treatment and the support they received
• The provider had systems in place to monitor the quality of the service provided.

There was an area 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.