Community Health and Eyecare Limited (CHEC - Slough)

Updated 2 June 2026

Date of assessment: 5 November 2025.

Community Health and Eye Care Limited – Slough (CHEC – Slough) is an independent hospital providing ophthalmology and dermatology services in a community setting. It is operated by the provider Community and Health Eye Care Limited.

CHEC – Slough first registered in May 2021 and provides diagnostics, treatment, and follow-up services. The service provides NHS-funded ophthalmic services commissioned by the local Integrated Care Board (ICB), offering diagnostics, outpatient consultations, surgical treatments and follow‑up care. This includes cataract surgery (a short procedure to replace a cloudy lens with a clear artificial one), glaucoma management (treatments that lower eye pressure to protect vision) and YAG laser capsulotomy (a non‑incisional laser treatment used to clear clouding behind an artificial lens).

The hospital also offers dermatology services for a range of skin conditions — such as eczema (dry, itchy, inflamed skin), acne (spots caused by blocked pores), psoriasis (red, scaly skin patches) and benign skin lesions (such as cysts and skin tags). This allows patients to access assessment and treatment locally, without needing to travel to larger acute hospitals.

In addition to its NHS work, CHEC – Slough offers a private treatment option through the provider’s Clarity brand. The hospital also rents outpatient and theatre space to the local NHS trust which helps increase dermatology capacity so more patients can be seen locally. This supports reduced waiting lists and enables skin treatments and minor surgeries to be carried out closer to home.

We undertook a comprehensive assessment of surgery services because this location has not been assessed since being registered in May 2021.

This assessment looked at surgery services which we rated as good.

This is the first time we have assessed and rated this service. We assessed surgery services using our comprehensive inspection methodology. We assessed all 5 key questions and all quality statements. We rated surgery services as good. We rated the location CHEC – Slough as good.

At this assessment, we identified a breach of regulation in relation to ‘Good Governance’.

Updated 16 September 2025

Date of assessment 5 November 2025

We undertook a comprehensive assessment of surgery services because the service had not been assessed since being registered in May 2021.

The service provides NHS-funded ophthalmology care in a community setting, including cataract surgery, glaucoma management, YAG laser treatment and follow‑up care. It also offers dermatology assessment and treatment for conditions such as benign skin lumps, enabling patients to access care locally. In addition to its NHS work, the service provides private treatment options and offers a free patient transport service to support attendance.

We rated this service as good.

We found the service had a strong learning culture and investigated incidents thoroughly. Staff consistently maintained safe pathways, completing essential checks, escalating concerns appropriately and ensuring continuity of care through clear records and emergency processes. The service managed safeguarding well, staff had full training, clear escalation routes and specialist support. Staff involved patients and relatives in safety checks, explaining procedures to enhance the experience.

The environment was clean, well equipped and safely maintained in line with national guidance. Leaders ensured staffing levels, skill mix and governance for clinicians working under practising privileges were robust. They supported ongoing development and specialist competencies. The service controlled infection risks well, through clean environments, strong audits and safe surgical practice. Staff managed medicines safely with secure storage, clear processes, effective learning from incidents and safe administration supported by access to emergency treatments. However, the provider did not always submit statutory notifications to the Care Quality Commission for incidents that met the criteria for reporting serious injury.

At this assessment we identified a breach of regulation in relation to Good Governance.

If we have requested an action plan, this will be requested upon publication of the final report.