Medical Express Clinic

Updated 18 May 2022

Medical Express Clinic provides consultations with independent doctors from premises located at 117a Harley Street, London, W1G 6AT. The service provides consultations with independent doctors, blood tests and a variety health screening services.

This fee-paying service provides the above range of health services to children and adults.

The service is registered with the Care Quality Commission to undertake the regulated activities for the provision of surgical procedures, family planning, diagnostic and screening procedures and the treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

The service is located is a two-storey building with the entrance on the ground floor which allows for easy access for those with mobility issues. On this floor, there is a clinical consultation room, along with the service manager’s office and the patient waiting room. There is a second consultation room on the first floor.

The registered manager of the service is the lead GP consultant. Consultations are undertaken by the lead GP along with three other GP consultants who are all registered with the General Medical Council (GMC). Other staff working at the service include healthcare assistants (who also undertake administrative duties) and a service manager.

Appointments are available as follows: -

• 9am – 6pm Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday
• 10am – 2pm Saturday and Sunday

How we inspected this service

Throughout the pandemic CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, considering the circumstances arising as a result of the pandemic, and in order to reduce risk, we have conducted our inspections differently.

This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site. This was with consent from the service and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements.

During our inspection we:-

• Looked at the systems in place relating to safety and governance of the service.
• Viewed key policies and procedures
• Conducted interviews with staff
• Reviewed clinical records

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 18 May 2022

This service is rated as Good overall.

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Requires improvement

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? – Good

We carried out an announced desk-based focus review of Medical Express Clinic on 29 April 2021. This inspection was not rated but we identified a breach in regulation relating to Regulation 12 of the Health and Social Care Act (Regulated Activities) 2014. The full report for the April 2021 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Medical conducted as part of our inspection programme of independent health providers.

This inspection was a full comprehensive inspection carried out on 30 March 2022 to confirm that the practice had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breach of regulation identified during the April 2021 desk review of the service.

Our key findings were:

• The service had systems in place which kept patients safe. These included checks on patients attending the service and risk assessments conducted to ensure staff and patients were safe whilst attending the centre.
• Staff at the service had the skills and knowledge to provide effective care, but there was evidence that not all patient needs had been assessed.
• The service obtained consent to care and treatment in line with legislation and guidance, but this was not documented.
• Feedback on the service revealed high levels of patient satisfaction.
• Provision of services at the clinic considered patient demand and included timely access appointments which included face-to-face, telephone and video consultations.
• There was a focus on innovative, learning and improvement.

The areas where the service must make improvements:-

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

The areas where the service should make improvements: -

• Ensure that up to date information is held on staff files (including performers checks).

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