We visited The Hospital Medical Group - Bristol Clinic (trading as The Hospital Group) on 21 February 2012 and spent the day at the service.We met and talked with patients and members of staff. We looked at patient care, clinical care records, and inspected the premises. We discussed the control and prevention of infections and inspected the clinic for cleanliness. We looked at how the organisation assessed and monitored the safety and quality of its service.
Patients we met and talked with said that their privacy and confidentiality was respected. They were given plenty of information, able to ask questions, and to give informed consent. Patients said that following surgery, they received a good standard of aftercare. One patient said that the service had "met my expectations and actually went beyond them". Another patient said care had been "brilliant" and "I was made to feel at ease at all times". We were told that the organisation undertook "thorough" pre-admission assessments and gave people all the options available to them. We met one patient for whom the follow-up procedure was not as thorough as it should have been in respect of clinical test results.
We observed that members of staff knew patients well and treated them with respect. Staff were well trained and knowledgeable in their roles. They were also well supported and worked as a team.
The organisation had a dedicated corporate clinical governance team that assessed and monitored the safety and quality of the service. This included receiving and acting on complaints, incidents, accidents and feedback from staff and patients.
Patients told us that they found the clinic to be clean, tidy and uncluttered. They felt the clinic had the right equipment and facilities; all of which was well maintained.
At the time of our visit, the clinic did not have a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. The manager of the clinic was preparing an application to be considered as registered manager.