The Care Quality Commission
  • Clinic
  • Slimming clinic

Archived: Weightmedics - Richmond

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

37 Kew Road, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 2NQ (020) 7760 7670

Provided and run by:
Weight Medics Limited

Important: The provider of this service changed. See new profile

All Inspections

10 June 2021

During a routine inspection

This service is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection 12 2019 – rated Good overall).

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

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 Richmond under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act (HSCA) 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This was part of our inspection programme to check whether the service was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and to rate the service.

CQC inspected the service on 3 December 2019 and served a requirement notice for a breach of Regulation 12 (2) (g) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. We asked the provider to make improvements regarding the medicines fridge and the detail included in patient records. We checked these areas as part of this comprehensive inspection and found that these issues had been resolved.

Richmond provides weight loss services, including prescribing medicines and dietary advice to support weight reduction. The Nurse Director is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Our key findings were:

  • The provider had implemented additional infection control measures in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
  • The provider had developed a mobile phone application for patients to aid access to information on weight management.
  • The provider had effective processes to develop leadership capacity and skills, including planning for the future leadership of the service.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

  • Only supply unlicensed medicines against valid special clinical needs of an individual patient where there is no suitable licensed medicine available.
  • Make a clear record of the dose and frequency information for medicines prescribed.
  • Make a clear record of the rationale when a different approach to national guidance is taken in order to protect patient safety.
  • Blood pressure readings should be taken and recorded in line with the clinic protocol.
  • Review the system for sharing treatment plans with patient’s own GPs to ensure they are sent consistently.
  • Review and improve how consent is obtained to ensure that patients are aware of all treatment risks.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care

3 December 2019

During a routine inspection

This service is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection November 2017 – Not rated.)

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 Richmond under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act (HSCA) 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This was part of our inspection programme to check whether the service was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and to rate the service.

Richmond provides weight loss services, including prescribing medicines and dietary advice to support weight reduction. The operations manager who is also a registered nurse is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. We received two completed CQC comments cards from patients to tell us what they thought about the service.

Our key findings were:

•Patients at the clinic could access a range of services to assist with weight loss.

•The records kept of discussions conducted with patients was good.

•The systems for monitoring medicines fridge temperatures did not provide assurance that medicines stored in the fridge were safe to use.

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

• 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:

•Only supply unlicensed medicines against valid special clinical needs of an individual patient where there is no suitable licensed medicine available.

•Review arrangements to retain medical records in line with Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) guidance in the event that they cease trading.

•Review calibration processes for all weighing scales.

•Review the system for the management of patient safety alerts when the registered manager is away.

•Review the records kept to provide assurance that staff have received chaperone training.

•Review the need to complete a full clinical audit cycle to demonstrate the clinical effectiveness of the service being provided.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care

17 November 2017

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 17 November 2017 to ask the service the following key questions; Are services safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led?

Our findings were:

Are services safe?

We found that this service was providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations

Are services effective?

We found that this service was providing effective care in accordance with the relevant regulations

Are services caring?

We found that this service was providing caring services in accordance with the relevant regulations

Are services responsive?

We found that this service was providing responsive care in accordance with the relevant regulations

Are services well-led?

We found that this service was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations

Background

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the service was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Weight Medics Richmond is a slimming clinic located in Richmond, London. The clinic consists of a first floor reception area, a consulting room and staff offices on the second floor. It is close to Richmond rail and tube station, and local bus stops. Parking in the local area is limited.

The clinic is staffed by a receptionist, a patient care manager and a doctor. There are staff based at other locations that cover shifts at this clinic. If for any reason, a shift is not filled by one of the regular doctors, there are locum doctors who are familiar with the clinic that can be contacted. In addition, staff work closely with other staff based at the other locations. This clinic is one of five clinics that are run by the same provider organisation.

The patient care manager is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The clinic provided slimming advice and prescribed medicines to support weight reduction. It was a private service. It was open for walk-ins or booked appointments on Tuesdays or Thursdays to Saturdays for a minimum of four hours.

Patients completed CQC comment cards to tell us what they thought about the service. We received seven completed cards and all were positive. We were told that the service was excellent, and that staff always made time to listen to people, were helpful and flexible.

Our key findings were:

  • All patients received appropriate treatment breaks that were built in to their treatment regimens from the beginning.
  • The clinic appropriately refused treatment to people with low weight, co-existing medical conditions or drug interactions.
  • The clinic actively sought feedback from users of the service. Any negative feedback was discussed at team meetings where staff came up with ideas for improvement.

There were areas where the provider could make improvements and should:

  • Only supply unlicensed medicines against valid special clinical needs of an individual patient where there is no suitable licensed medicine available
  • Review the need to carry out an updated audit to demonstrate the clinical effectiveness of the service being provided.

During a check to make sure that the improvements required had been made

Our inspection of 6 March 2013 found that people were not protected against the risks associated with medicines because the provider had not followed their appropriate medication policy arrangements. We wrote to the provider who told us they would take action; provide refresher training and reinforce awareness of the medication policy. We asked the provider to send us records of the changes they had made and actions they had taken. We spoke with four staff by telephone to affirm the actions taken and progress made. We found improvements had been made and staff had signed their training updates.

We looked at the medication policy and spoke with staff. We asked them to describe their training and the process of moving, counting, signing and managing stock. All four staff described this process which included decanting and distributing medication. Decanted medication was distributed in separately labelled vials from larger medication tubs. We asked how stock was moved between services and we were told that medication had to be counted, recorded, signed by staff and countersigned by a doctor before leaving one site and upon arrival at the destination site. We asked to see four records which showed the provider was following the procedure.

We asked about newly agreed arrangements to cover for when senior staff were on leave. We were assured that pharmacy staff would work different days to ensure that senior staff were always available to countersign medication at all times.

6 March 2013

During a routine inspection

During our visit we spoke with people who use the service and staff. We saw the information that was provided to people who started to use the service was in a useable format and gave information on the type of programme available, exercise and the service provided by the clinic. The people we spoke with were happy with the information and support they had received from the staff. One person commented that "When health questions come up they offered solutions".

The staff members we spoke with were happy with the training they had received and felt supported in their role by the management. A member of staff said that "I feel well supported and was not left in the deep end when I started".

We saw that the medication was stored in appropriate cabinets and there were records showing batch numbers, date of receipt and its use by date. The record cards we saw had detailed information on the person's medical history, the medication dispensed by the clinic and their weight loss.

18 August 2011

During a routine inspection

We met some of the people who use the service. They told us that they felt well informed about and in control of the treatment they received. They said that the clinic staff were friendly, welcoming and flexible. They told us that the treatment helped them to achieve their personal goals and to 'feel better'.