Archived: Holmedale Health

Updated 16 July 2019

Holmedale Health (Dermashine Healthcare Ltd) medical aesthetics and healthcare clinic is based in Exeter. The service offers medical services including private medical practice, private specialist consultations, minor surgery and a range of healthcare services to promote overall healthand well-being. These include steroid injections, minor surgery, medical letters, private consultations, blood tests, allergy testing and medical consultations.

The service operates from The Consulting Rooms, 34 Denmark Road, Exeter, EX1 1SE. This is a converted GP practice which is accessible for any patient with mobility issues and those bringing children to the clinic. For example, it has level floor surfaces. The provider has use of two treatment rooms and equipment within these rooms which were rented from the host location of the building and of another organisation whom the provider offers a service for. Patients had access to other areas of the medical centre such as the waiting areas and accessible toilets.

The service is delivered by one male doctor who also works as a GP locally. The GP is trained and experienced in minor surgery and carries out the procedure within the clinic and for a local GP practice on a regular basis. Patients are greeted by the receptionist (employed by the host location). The provider manages bookings for the clinic and records on a clinical system.

The clinic operates weekly from 9am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday. Home consultations are available on request.

How we inspected this service

As part of the preparation for the inspection, we reviewed information provided for us by the service. In addition; we reviewed the information we held on our records regarding this provider.

During the inspection we utilised a number of methods to support our judgement of the services provided. For example, we interviewed the provider, looked at the clinical system and patient records and reviewed documents relating to the service.

We received 31 Care Quality Commission comment cards. These were positive regarding the care delivered and the polite and helpful attitude of the provider. Many stated that the service was professional, efficient and informative. They found the provider friendly and would recommend the service to others.

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 16 July 2019

This service is rated as Good overall. We previously inspected the service on 10 July 2018. We found the service was providing care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? – Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Homedale Health on 29 May 2019 as part of our inspection programme.

At our previous inspection in July 2018 we identified areas where the provider should make improvements:

• Review governance processes so they are established and maintained to evidence the systems and processes followed. For example, medicine checks, cleaning processes and the follow up and monitoring processes used to monitor the quality of the minor surgery service.
• Review the process and policy for the treatment of and confirmation of the identity of parents before performing a procedure on a minor (child or infant).
• Review systems to ensure that any new clinical equipment owned by the provider will be checked regularly to ensure it has been calibrated where required.
• Review systems to demonstrate that requests have been sought to contact the NHS GP where appropriate.

We checked these areas as part of this comprehensive inspection and found those areas had been resolved.

This service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of some, but not all, of the services it provides. There are some exemptions from regulation by CQC which relate to particular types of service and these are set out in Schedule 2 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. Services included the provision of advice or treatment by a medical practitioner, including the prescribing of medicines, healthcare screening and minor surgery. The aesthetic cosmetic treatments that are also provided are exempt by law from CQC regulation. Therefore, we did not inspect or report on these services.

Our key findings were:

• Patients records were stored electronically and were encrypted to ensure they were safe and secure and adhered to data protection legislation.
• The service had systems in place to identify, investigate and learn from incidents relating to the safety of patients and staff members.
• Patients who used the service had an initial consultation where a detailed medical history was taken from the patient. Patients and others who used the service were able to access detailed information regarding the services offered and delivered by the provider.
• The website for the service was very clear and easily understood. In addition, it contained valuable information regarding treatments available and fees payable.
• Patient satisfaction with the standard and quality of services received was high.
• The clinic had processes in place to securely share relevant information with others such as the patient’s GP and when required, safeguarding bodies and private healthcare facilities.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGPChief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care