London Neurology Clinic

Updated 4 April 2023

London Neurology clinic is an independent private health care practice specialising in the care and treatment of adult patients with complex neurological disorders. The service provides multi-disciplinary diagnostics and treatment services for a wide range of neurological conditions, including migraine, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, dementia, back pain and stroke.

The service is located in central London and is easily accessible by car and public transport. The service uses rented rooms in a large building which is shared with other healthcare services. The building is accessible to patients with limited mobility. It has a ramp to the main entrance and a lift. More information about the service can be found on their website; www.londonneurologyclinic.co.uk.

The service’s opening times are Mondays to Fridays, 9am to 6pm.

The provider is an individual consultant neurologist. Clinical services are also provided by two other consultants who have practicing privileges and work under contract with the provider. There is also a service manager in place who oversees the day to day operations and deals with the business management and accounts.

How we inspected this service

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 4 April 2023

This service is rated as Good overall.

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Requires improvement

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 London Neurology Clinic as part of our inspection programme. This inspection in February 2023 was the service’s first inspection since registration with the Care Quality Commission.

London Neurology Clinic is an independent healthcare service for adult patients with complex neurological disorders.

Our key findings were:

• The service was providing safe care. However we found they were not suitably equipped to manage and respond effectively to a medical emergency.
• The service was providing effective care. The effectiveness and appropriateness of the care provided was reviewed. There was some evidence of quality improvement activity, however this was not regular or consistent.
• The service was providing caring services. Staff treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect. Feedback from people who used the service was positive. However processes to gather patient feedback were not developed.
• The service was providing responsive care in accordance with the relevant regulations. People were supported to access the service when they wanted to.
• The service was providing well-led care. Leaders have the capacity and skills to deliver high-quality, sustainable care. They demonstrated a vision to deliver high quality care and promote good outcomes for patients.

The areas where the provider must make improvements as they are in breach of regulations are:

• Ensure care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients.

(Please see the specific details on action required at the end of this report).

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• We told the provider they should implement a process by which a trained chaperone can be made available to patients.
• Implement systems and processes for regular quality improvement activity including prescribing and clinical audits.
• Implement systems and processes to support routine patient feedback opportunity.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

Chief Inspector of Hospitals and Interim Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services