Archived: Epilium & Skin

Updated 15 June 2023

Epilium & Skin is operated by Epilium & Skin Ltd. The service provides private cosmetic treatments from clinical premises which are also used for unregulated aesthetic treatments. The clinic offered treatments such as blepharoplasty (eyelid reduction), labiaplasty (labia minora reduction), gynecomastia (male chest lift), fat transfer, and hair transplant. The service has one operating theatre, one recovery room, one consultation room and a waiting area. Procedures were carried out under local anaesthetic and conscious sedation only.

The provider registered this location in January 2011. A registered manager was in post and the service was registered to carry out the following regulated activity:

• Surgical procedures

Updated 15 June 2023

We have not previously rated this service. We rated it as inadequate because:

• Staff did not have up to date training in key skills that helped them to keep people safe. The service did not have measures in place to control infection risk. Staff did not assess risks to patients and care records were inconsistent.
• The service did not follow required legislation in relation to recruitment or registration of staff providing regulated activities.
• There were no medicines management systems in place. There was no system in place to manage safety incidents.
• The service did not monitor the effectiveness of care and there was no system to ensure the competence of staff.
• Governance systems were not functioning, and the provider did not have a good understanding of the service or their responsibilities in relation to risk and leadership.

Following the inspection, we took immediate action to suspend all regulatory activity at the provider for 3 months.

I am placing the service into special measures. Services placed in special measures will be inspected again within six months. If insufficient improvements have been made such that there remains a rating of inadequate overall or for any key question or core service, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures to begin the process of preventing the provider from operating the service. This will lead to cancelling their registration or to varying the terms of their registration within six months if they do not improve. The service will be kept under review and, if needed, could be escalated to urgent enforcement action. Where necessary another inspection will be conducted within a further six months, and if there is not enough improvement, we will move to close the service by adopting our proposal to vary the provider’s registration to remove this location or cancel the provider’s registration.

Dr Sean O'Kelly

Chief Inspector of Hospitals

Updated 24 February 2023

We rated this service as inadequate because it was not safe, effective, responsive, or well led.