The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • Independent doctor

Moorfields Private Eye Centre

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

50/52 New Cavendish Street, London, W1G 8TL (020) 3757 6555

Provided and run by:
Moorfields Private Eye Centre

All Inspections

12 September 2023

During a routine inspection

This service is rated as 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 Moorfields Private Eye Centre to follow up on breaches of regulations from our inspection in February 2022.

CQC inspected the service in February 2022 and asked the provider to make improvements regarding effective governance and auditing processes to enable the service to assess, monitor and mitigate the risks relating to the health, safety and welfare of service users and others who may be at risk. We checked these areas as part of this comprehensive inspection and found the provider made the required improvements.

The service offered ophthalmology (the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders) related healthcare services to fee-paying patients. The service was open to adults only. The service had recently undergone a transition from a mixed speciality private clinic which provided treatments to patients for dermatology conditions to only providing private patient services for ophthalmology.

The service 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 service had clear systems and processes to keep people safe. This includes systems in respect of recruitment, infection prevention and control and medicine management.
  • Information needed to deliver safe care and treatment was available and accessible to relevant staff in a timely manner.
  • The service had reliable systems for the appropriate and safe handling of medicines.
  • The service was able to provide evidence consultations of all doctors were undertaken in line with relevant national UK guidelines.
  • Staff members had the skills, knowledge and experience to carry out their roles.
  • Patients were treated with dignity and respect. Feedback from patient reviews reported staff were kind and caring and involved them as much as they wanted to be in the treatment of their care.
  • The service was tailored to meet the needs of individual patients.
  • The leadership, governance and culture at the service was used to drive and improve the personalised patient focused care the service provides.
  • The service involved patients to support high-quality sustainable services.
  • We saw evidence of systems and processes for learning, continuous improvement and innovation.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

Chief Inspector of Hospitals and Interim Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services

22, 25 and 28 February 2022

During a routine inspection

This service is rated as Requires improvement overall.

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? – Requires improvement

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at London Claremont Clinic as part of our inspection programme. This was the first inspection undertaken at this service.

The service offered ophthalmology (the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders) and dermatology (the diagnosis and treatment of skin conditions ) related healthcare services. The service was open to adults and children. The service was undergoing a transition from a mixed speciality private clinic to one which would only provide private patient services for ophthalmology by the end of 2022.

The senior consultant ophthalmologist 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 was a lack of good governance in some areas.
  • Information needed to deliver safe care and treatment was not always available to the relevant staff in a timely manner.
  • The service did not have reliable systems for appropriate and safe handling of medicines.
  • The service was unable to provide evidence that the consultations of all doctors were undertaken in line with relevant national UK guidelines or had a documented rationale for the treatment provided.
  • Prescribing was not audited or reviewed to identify areas for quality improvement.
  • There was insufficient quality monitoring of clinicians’ performance.
  • Some doctors had not received safeguarding children level three training relevant to their role.
  • There were processes to ensure risks to patients were assessed and well managed in most areas, with the exception of those relating to safeguarding children training and sepsis awareness.
  • Appointments were available on a pre-bookable basis. The service provided only face to face consultations.
  • Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
  • Information about services and how to complain was available.
  • The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour.

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.

(Please see the specific details on action required at the end of this report).

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

  • Arrange sepsis awareness training for non-clinical staff members.
  • Follow the complaint policy and include information on the complainant’s right to escalate the complaint if dissatisfied with the response.

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