The Care Quality Commission
  • Clinic
  • Slimming clinic

North London Slimming Clinic

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

16 Uvedale Road, Enfield, Middlesex, EN2 6HB (020) 8363 1098

Provided and run by:
The North London Slimming Clinic Limited

All Inspections

6 July 2023

During a monthly review of our data

We carried out a review of the data available to us about North London Slimming Clinic on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.

This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.

If you have concerns about North London Slimming Clinic, you can give feedback on this service.

01 May 2021

During a routine inspection

This service is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection October 2020 – Requires improvement)

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 North London Slimming Clinic as part of our inspection programme to follow up on breaches of regulations.

CQC inspected the service on 24 October 2020 and rated it as requires improvement. The service remained in special measures. We asked the provider to make improvements regarding employment processes and good governance. We checked these areas as part of this comprehensive inspection and found they had been resolved.

North London Slimming Clinic is located in Enfield, London. It provides weight loss services including the prescribing of medicines for the purposes of weight reduction.

The clinic 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.

Our key findings were:

  • The doctor provided person-centred consultations and a range of advice and guidance to support weight loss.
  • There had been an improvement in governance arrangements. Systems were in place to monitor the quality and safety of services and risks to patients and staff.
  • Recruitment procedures had been followed for all staff.
  • The premises were arranged to support social distancing, and infection prevention measures were followed.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

  • Improve the process for ensuring that the electronic patient records are kept up to date in line with paper records
  • Improve arrangements for maintaining records in the event that they cease trading
  • Develop arrangements for obtaining patient feedback
  • Improve confidentiality of consultations when the waiting area is quiet
  • Only supply unlicensed medicines against valid special clinical needs of an individual patient where there is no suitable licensed medicine available

I am taking this service out of special measures. This recognises the significant improvements that have been made to the quality of care provided by this service.

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

22 October 2020

During a routine inspection

This service is rated as Requires improvement overall. (Previous inspection November 2019 – Inadequate)

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Requires improvement

Are services effective? – Requires improvement

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? – Inadequate

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at North London Slimming Clinic as part of our inspection programme to follow up on breaches of regulations.

CQC inspected the service on 23 November 2019 and rated it as inadequate. The service remained in special measures. We asked the provider to make improvements regarding safe care and treatment and good governance. We checked these areas as part of this comprehensive inspection. We found that there had been improvements in safe care and treatment, but there were continued breaches of regulations relating to good governance.

North London Slimming Clinic is located in Enfield, London. It provides weight loss services including the prescribing of medicines for the purposes of weight reduction.

The clinic 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.

Our key findings were:

  • There had been improvements in the way medicines requiring refrigeration were handled.
  • Some of the safety checks such as fire and electrical equipment checks were overdue on the day of the inspection, but were carried out soon afterwards.
  • Care records included the information needed to deliver safe care, and were updated after a break in treatment.
  • Patients’ needs were fully assessed and recorded before treatment.
  • The facilities and premises were appropriate for the services delivered and the provider had introduced a one way system to encourage social distancing.
  • Policies had been reviewed and updated.
  • Staff told us they were kept informed and felt able to raise concerns.

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

  • Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care
  • Ensure recruitment procedures are established and operated effectively to ensure only fit and proper persons are employed
  • Display the latest CQC rating conspicuously

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

  • Enable stakeholders, including people who use the service, to give their views and respond to that information.
  • Include in the complaints policy other forms of complaints and not those only submitted in writing.
  • Improve the provision of equality and diversity training.
  • Monitor progress against the strategy.
  • Improve the process for clinical audits to include a process to identify and carry out follow up actions.
  • Only supply unlicensed medicines against valid special clinical needs of an individual patient where there is no suitable licensed medicine available.

This service will remain in special measures. 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 remove this location or cancel the provider’s registration. Special measures will give people who use the service the reassurance that the care they get should improve.

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

23/11/19

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at North London Slimming Clinic to follow up on breaches of regulations.

CQC inspected the service on 24 August 2019 and asked the provider to make improvements regarding fit and proper persons employed. We checked this area as part of this comprehensive inspection and found this had been resolved. We also asked the provider to make improvements regarding safe care and treatment and good governance. We checked these areas as part of this comprehensive inspection and found that they had been partly resolved.

North London Slimming Clinic is located in Enfield, London. It provides weight loss services including the prescribing of medicines for the purposes of weight reduction.

The clinic 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.

Our key findings were :

  • The premises provided a pleasant environment for the service
  • There had been improvements in the secure storage and recording of controlled drugs
  • There was no cold chain policy, and no checks to ensure that medicines requiring refrigeration were stored at the appropriate temperature
  • Medicines were not prescribed in line with local policy or national guidance
  • There was a lack of monitoring of the quality of clinical care
  • The policies available on the day were out of date

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

  • Ensure care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients
  • Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care

(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

This service was placed in special measures in October 2019. Insufficient improvements have been made such that there remains a rating of inadequate overall. This service will remain in 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 for any key question or overall, 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 remove this location or cancel the provider’s registration.

Special measures will give people who use the service the reassurance that the care they get should improve.

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

24 August 2019

During a routine inspection

This service is rated as Inadequate overall. (Previous inspection in January 2019 was not rated).

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Inadequate

Are services effective? – Requires improvement

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? – Inadequate

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at North London Slimming Clinic to rate the service as part of our inspection programme.

North London Slimming Clinic is located in Enfield, London. It provides weight loss services including the prescribing of medicines for the purposes of weight reduction.

The clinic 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.

Six people provided feedback about the service. We were told that the service was very good, and that staff were always helpful and made people feel comfortable.

Our key findings were:

  • Patients were positive about the staff and the service provided by the clinic
  • The premises were clean and tidy and provided a pleasant environment
  • There was a lack of monitoring of the quality of care delivered
  • Systems to ensure the suitability of staff for employment were not followed
  • Processes were not in place to ensure the proper and safe management of medicines

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

  • Ensure care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients
  • Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care
  • Ensure recruitment procedures are established and operated effectively to ensure only fit and proper persons are employed.

(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 the arrangements to meet peoples language and communication needs.

I am placing this service in 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 for any key question or overall, 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 remove this location or cancel the provider’s registration.

Special measures will give people who use the service the reassurance that the care they get should improve.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care

28 January 2019

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out an announced focused inspection on 28 January 2019 to ask the service the following key questions; Are services safe, effective 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 well-led?

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

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.

CQC previously inspected the service in November 2017 and in September 2018 when breaches of legal requirements were found regarding safeguarding, governance and staffing. We took enforcement action to protect the safety and welfare of people using the service and at this inspection on 28 January 2019 we found that the provider had made improvements in these areas. You can read the reports from our previous inspections by selecting the 'all reports' link for North London Slimming Clinic on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

North London Slimming Clinic is located in Enfield, London. The clinic is run from a residential property. There is a ground floor reception, waiting room and consulting room. It is accessible by public transport, and there is parking available on the street close to the clinic. This service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of the provision of advice or treatment by, or under the supervision of, a medical practitioner, including the prescribing of medicines for the purposes of weight reduction.

The clinic 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.

Our key findings were:

  • Safety policies were in place and staff had received training on safeguarding.
  • Patient records were stored appropriately.
  • There were systems to manage patient safety alerts and to record and investigate incidents.
  • Staff records were completed to show that employment checks had been carried out.
  • There was a process to ensure medicines were only prescribed to patients aged 18 or over
  • Policies and procedures were in place to support the day to day running of the clinic and provide assurance to service leaders that the service was operating as intended.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGPChief Inspector of General Practice

10 September 2018

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced focused inspection on 10 September 2018 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 not providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services effective?

We found that this service was not providing effective care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services responsive?

We found that this service was not providing responsive care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services well-led?

We found that this service was not providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

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.

CQC inspected the service on 13 November 2017 and asked the provider to make improvements regarding safeguarding, governance and staffing. We checked these areas as part of this focused inspection.

North London Slimming Clinic is located in Enfield, London. The clinic is sited in a residential property. There is a ground floor reception, waiting room and consulting room. It is accessible by public transport, and there is parking available on the street close to the clinic.

This service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of the provision of advice or treatment by, or under the supervision of, a medical practitioner, including the prescribing of medicines for the purposes of weight reduction.

When we last inspected, the clinic was open on Mondays (6pm – 8pm) and Saturdays (9am-11am). At the time of this inspection the clinic was not providing prescribed medicines as there was no doctor working at the service. However, some patients had accessed advice and weight measurement free of charge.

The clinic 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.

We did not receive any feedback from comment cards. This was because the service is not currently running clinics in which they prescribe medicines for weight loss.

Our key findings were:

  • Customer satisfaction surveys and a framework for clinical audit had been developed but not used in practice
  • Staff at the clinic, including the safeguarding lead, had not undertaken safeguarding training
  • Access to controlled drugs was not appropriately restricted
  • Some policies lacked relevant details to adequately support the day to day running of the service
  • Some employment records for staff working at the clinic were incomplete
  • The clinic was clean and tidy and a legionella risk assessment had been undertaken
  • Staff had signed confidentiality clauses

We identified regulations that were not being met and the provider must:

  • Establish effective systems and processes to ensure service users are protected from abuse and improper treatment in accordance with the fundamental standards of care.
  • Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care.
  • Ensure recruitment procedures are established and that persons employed in the provision of the regulated activity receive the appropriate support, training, professional development, supervision and appraisal necessary to enable them to carry out their duties.

We are now taking further action against the provider in line with our enforcement policy and we will report further on this when it is completed.

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.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGPChief Inspector of General Practice

13 November 2017

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 13 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 not providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services effective?

We found that this service was not 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 not providing responsive care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services well-led?

We found that this service was not 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.

North London slimming clinic is located in Enfield, London. The clinic is in a residential property with the reception, waiting room and consulting room on the ground floor and staff office on the first floor. It is accessible by public transport, and there is limited parking on the street. The clinic also operates from another premises located at Broxbourne Borough Buildings, Cheshunt EN8 9XQ on Thursday evenings.

The clinic is open on Mondays (6pm – 8pm) and Saturdays (9am-11am) at the Enfield location and Thursdays (6pm – 9pm) at the Cheshunt address. Patients are able to attend without appointments. They are provided with slimming advice and prescribed medicines to support weight reduction.

The clinic 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 is staffed by a registered manager, a nominated individual and a doctor. There were also two administrative staff members employed on an adhoc basis. The registered manager told us they were not permanent staff but work as and when required by the clinic. If for any reason, the doctor is unable to cover a shift, staff told us that the clinic would be closed.

Patients completed CQC comment cards to tell us what they thought about the service. We received twenty one completed cards and all were positive. We were told that the service was excellent, and that staff was always helpful and made people to feel comfortable.

Our key findings were:

  • People using the service told us that staff were always available to them including out of hours.
  • Medicines were not prescribed safely to patients who fit the treatment criteria as defined in clinical guidelines.
  • There were no effective systems and processes in place to prevent abuse of service users.
  • The provider did not have systems and processes in place to monitor and improve the quality of services being provided. This included incident reporting, emergency medicine risk assessments, patient safety alerts, communication with the patient’s own GP, procedures that were appropriate to the service provided, up to date and understood by all staff.
  • Staff did not have appropriate recruitment checks or given suitable support, training, professional development and supervision as is necessary to enable them to carry out the duties they are employed to perform.
  • Patients’ records were not stored securely.

We identified regulations that were not being met and the provider must:

  • Ensure care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients.
  • Ensure patients are protected from abuse and improper treatment.
  • Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care.
  • Ensure sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, competent, skilled and experienced persons are deployed to meet the fundamental standards of care and treatment.

You can see full details of the regulations not being met at the end of this report.

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

  • Review and establish methods to ascertain the age and identity of patients accessing the clinic services.
  • Review and action the necessity for chaperoning at the service and staff training requirements.
  • Only supply unlicensed medicines against valid special clinical needs of an individual patient where there is no suitable licensed medicine available.

You can see full details of the regulations not being met at the end of this report.

18 March 2013

During a routine inspection

Patients we spoke with confirmed they were treated with consideration by staff and their privacy and dignity were respected. One patient told us, 'the staff are so lovely.' Patients were given appropriate information about the care and treatment provided. A patient told us, 'the doctor tells you what you need to know'. Another said they had been provided with 'leaflets about everything.' We saw a range of leaflets provided to patients on different topics related to weight loss and management.

Patients were positive about the quality of care and treatment they received. Patients told us that the doctor reviewed whether there had been any changes to their health at each appointment and checked their blood pressure. They said they had recommended the service to others.

Medicines were stored securely and records of medicines dispensed to patients were kept. Patients said the possible side-effects had been explained to them. Staff received appropriate training to enable them to provide the care and treatment that patients needed. The provider monitored the service to make sure that risks to people were minimised and an appropriate standard of care and treatment provided.