• Doctor
  • Urgent care service or mobile doctor

Archived: Health Bridge Limited London

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Level 3, Block 3, 3 Angel Square, London, EC1V 1NY (020) 3588 0290

Provided and run by:
Health Bridge Limited

Important: This service is now registered at a different address - see new profile

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 7 June 2019

Health Bridge Limited London (Health Bridge) launched an online doctor service in 2011. The provider (Health Bridge Limited) registered with the Care Quality Commission in 2011 to provide Diagnostic and Screening procedures and Treatment of Disease, Disorder, Injury (TDDI). Health Bridge currently trades under the following website names: ‘Zava’ (www.zavamed.com), ‘Dr Ed’ () and www.onlinedoctor.superdrug.com on behalf of Superdrug Stores PLC (Superdrug). Dr Ed provides a service for residents of, Austria, Switzerland and Ireland. whilst Zava provides a service for residents of UK, Germany and France. The Superdrug online doctor service is available for use by UK residents.

Health Bridge has had a business relationship with Superdrug since 2013 and operates the website, on behalf of customers of Superdrug. Health Bridge clinical and customer services staff are responsible for handling the treatment requests from patients whilst the dispensing and dispatching of medicines is undertaken by Superdrug.

The service is open for consultations, for Zava and Superdrug between 9am and 6pm on weekdays 9am to 5pm on Saturdays and 10am to 4pm on Sundays. Since the commencement of Health Bridge Ltd's online doctor service in 2011 the provider has undertaken over two and a half million consultations. It is not an emergency service.

The provider carries out asynchronous (text-based consultation which did not take place in real time) consultations and the doctors contact patients where necessary to clarify answers given. Patients are required to complete a general medical questionnaire to register with the service. For each consultation the patient selects a treatment available on the service’s website and completes the appropriate questionnaire. The choice of treatments available include: erectile dysfunction; premature ejaculation; hair loss; contraceptive pill; emergency contraception (morning after pill); cystitis; period delay; bacterial vaginosis; female facial hair; rosacea; cold sore; migraine; traveller’s diarrhoea; hay fever; blood pressure; asthma; diabetes; acne; smoking cessation; anti-malaria; genital herpes and genital warts; and jet lag. The service also offers a limited range of tests, including tests for: HIV; Hepatitis; Syphilis; Gonorrhoea; and Chlamydia.

Once a patient has completed and submitted a request, the doctors review the completed questionnaire and determine the appropriateness of the treatment for the patient. If the doctor assesses the patient request to be clinically appropriate, they approve the request and the patient will receive the treatment. Alternatively, the doctor can request further information from the patient via their online patient record or by telephone. If the doctor decides not to prescribe a requested medicine, the patient is sent an email message to their secure patient account stating the order will not be fulfilled and a refund is processed. The cost of the service for patients includes the price of the medicine ordered in the UK.

Patients can choose to have the prescription sent to their preferred pharmacy

How we inspected this service

Before the inspection we gathered and reviewed information from the provider. During this inspection we spoke to the Registered Manager, doctors employed by the service and members of the management and administration team.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we 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.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 7 June 2019

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We rated this service as Good overall. (Previous inspection May 2017, when we found the provider was meeting the relevant standards).

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 Health Bridge Limited London on 18 April 2019 as part of our inspection programme.

Health Bridge Ltd was established in 2011 and registered with the Care Quality Commission in 2011. Health Bridge Ltd operates an online clinic for patients. Within the UK the service has recently been re-branded as Zava, and offers a service to UK based patients via the following websites: www.zavamed.com; and www.onlinedoctor.superdrug.com (providing online doctor services on behalf of Superdrug). The service provides consultations and private prescriptions.

At this inspection we found:

  • The service had good systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When they did happen, the service learned from them and improved their processes.
  • The service routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
  • Staff involved and treated people with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
  • Patients could access care and treatment from the service within an appropriate timescale for their needs.
  • There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care