The Care Quality Commission
  • Clinic
  • Slimming clinic

Archived: SDC (UK)1 Limited Prime Health & Beauty Clinic - Nottingham

Overall: Requires improvement read more about inspection ratings

12 Upper Parliament Street, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, NG1 2AD (01332) 299505

Provided and run by:
SDC (UK) 1 Limited

All Inspections

01 October 2022

During a routine inspection

This service is rated as Choose a rating overall. (Previous rated inspection 08 2021 – Requires improvement. Also inspected 10 2021 – Not rated).

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 unannounced comprehensive inspection at SDC (UK)1 Limited Prime Health & Beauty Clinic – Nottingham to follow up on breaches of regulations. CQC previously inspected the service on 9 October 2021 and asked the provider to make improvements regarding good governance. We checked these areas as part of this comprehensive inspection and found this had not been resolved.

This service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of some, but not all, of the services it provides. There are some exemptions from regulation by CQC which relate to particular types of regulated activities and services, and these are set out in Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. SDC (UK)1 Limited Prime Health & Beauty Clinic – Nottingham provides a range of non-surgical cosmetic interventions, which are not within CQC scope of registration. Therefore, we did not inspect or report on these services.

The clinic is run by a doctor who 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.

Two people provided feedback about the service by speaking with us and their comments were all positive. They told us they felt that staff were thorough, and they felt equipped with enough information to make decisions about their treatment.

Our key findings were:

  • There were processes for providing all staff with the training and development they need.
  • Patients felt listened to and supported by staff to make informed decisions about their treatment.

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

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

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.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

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

09 October 2021

During an inspection looking at part of the service

This inspection was not rated. (Previous inspection 08 2021 – rated requires improvement overall).

We carried out an unannounced focused inspection on 9 October 2021 at SDC (UK)1 Limited Prime Health & Beauty Clinic – Nottingham to follow up on breaches of regulations. CQC previously inspected the service on 7 August 2021 and rated it as requires improvement overall. We asked the provider to make improvements regarding safe care and treatment, and good governance. On this inspection, we found improvements in safe care and treatment. However, we found breaches relating to good governance. This report only covers findings in relation to the specific areas that we looked at. The service was not rated as a consequence of this inspection.

This service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of some, but not all, of the services it provides. There are some exemptions from regulation by CQC which relate to particular types of regulated activities and services and these are set out in Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. SDC (UK)1 Limited Prime Health & Beauty Clinic – Derby provides a range of non-surgical cosmetic interventions, which are not within CQC scope of registration. Therefore, we did not inspect or report on these services.

The clinic is run by a doctor who 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:

  • A system was implemented for sharing treatment information with patients’ registered GPs.
  • Medicines were stored securely under the supervision of the prescribing doctor.
  • The provider had arrangements for the storage of records in accordance with DHSC guidance in the event that the company ceases trading.

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.

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.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care

07 August 2021

During a routine inspection

This service is rated as Requires improvement overall. (Previous inspection 12 2020 – Inadequate)

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? – Requires improvement

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 7 August 2021 at SDC (UK)1 Limited Prime Health & Beauty Clinic – Nottingham to follow up on breaches of regulations. CQC previously inspected the service on 15 December 2020 and rated it as Inadequate overall. We asked the provider to make improvements regarding safe care and treatment, safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment, good governance and staffing. We found that there had been improvements in safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment and staffing. However there were continued breaches of regulations relating to safe care and treatment and good governance.

This service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of some, but not all, of the services it provides. There are some exemptions from regulation by CQC which relate to particular types of regulated activities and services and these are set out in Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

SDC (UK)1 Limited Prime Health & Beauty Clinic – Nottingham provides a range of non-surgical cosmetic interventions, which are not within CQC scope of registration. Therefore, we did not inspect or report on these services.

The clinic is run by a doctor who 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.

During this inspection, three people provided feedback about the service. We were told that the staff were supportive, polite and that the holistic advice on food, exercise and medicine side effects was provided.

Our key findings were:

  • The provider had established systems to keep people safeguarded from abuse.
  • The provider had implemented a system to provide assurance that safety alerts were reviewed and acted upon by the clinical team.
  • The provider had updated their cleaning policy to ensure staff knew which cleaning products to use in specific clinic areas.

The areas where the provider must make improvements 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.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

  • Develop a system for the effective sharing of information with patients’ registered GPs.
  • Only supply unlicensed medicines against valid special clinical needs of an individual patient where there is no suitable licensed medicine available.

This provider was placed in special measures in January 2021. Some improvements have been made and therefore this service is no longer in special measures. However, as there are still areas of concern, this service will be kept under review.

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

15 December 2020

During a routine inspection

This service is rated as Inadequate overall. (Previous inspection 4 February 2020 – Inadequate)

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Inadequate

Are services effective? – Inadequate

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Requires improvement

Are services well-led? – Inadequate

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 15 December 2020 at SDC (UK)1 Limited Prime Health & Beauty Clinic – Nottingham as part of our inspection programme to follow up on breaches of regulations. CQC previously inspected the service on 4 February 2020 and rated it as inadequate overall. The service remained in special measures. We asked the provider to make improvements regarding safe care and treatment, good governance and fit and proper persons employed. We found that there had been improvements in fit and proper persons employed. However there were continued breaches of regulations relating to safe care and treatment and good governance.

This service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of some, but not all, of the services it provides. There are some exemptions from regulation by CQC which relate to particular types of regulated activities and services. These are set out in Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. SDC (UK)1 Limited Prime Health & Beauty Clinic – Nottingham provides a range of non-surgical cosmetic interventions, which are not within CQC scope of registration. Therefore, we did not inspect or report on these services.

The clinic is run by one doctor who 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 monitoring of the quality of care being provided.
  • There was a lack of established governance procedures to deliver safe care.
  • There was a lack of appropriate training to ensure staff were suitably qualified and competent.
  • There was a lack of adherence to evidence based prescribing and a lack of recording when there was a deviation from clinical guidance.

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

  • Ensure that care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients.
  • Ensure that systems or processes are established to monitor good governance.
  • Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care
  • Ensure patients are protected from abuse and improper treatment
  • Ensure 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.

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

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

  • Improve systems for the retention of medical records if the provider ceases trading, in line with Department of Health guidance.
  • 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 February 2020. Insufficient improvements have been made such that there remains a rating of inadequate overall. Therefore we are taking 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. We will continue to monitor and review this service throughout this process and if needed could be escalated to urgent enforcement action.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care

20 April 2017

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out a focussed inspection of Prime Health & Beauty Clinic – Nottingham on 20 April 2017. This was to check that improvements had been made following the breach of legal requirements we identified from our comprehensive inspection carried out on 24 February 2016. During our inspection in February 2016 we identified regulatory breaches in relation to regulations 13 and 19 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014

This report only covers our findings in relation to the areas identified as requiring improvement following our inspection in February 2016. You can read the report from this comprehensive inspection by selecting the 'all reports' link for SDC (UK)1 Limited Prime Health & Beauty Clinic - Nottingham on our website at www.cqc.org.uk. The areas identified as requiring improvement during our inspection in February 2016 were as follows:

  • Ensure that the doctor undertakes training on safeguarding vulnerable adults
  • Ensure that recruitment procedures are followed and that the relevant checks are made on clinical staff in line with Schedule 3 of the Health and Social Care Act (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014

Our focused review on 20 April 2017 showed that improvements had been made

9/2/2016

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 9 February 2016 to ask the service the following questions; are the 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 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 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2015, and to look at the overall quality of the service, under the Care Act 2014.

Prime Health and Beauty Clinic provides a private weight reduction service for adults and supplies medicines and dietary advice to the patients accessing the service. The clinic operates from a first floor consulting room in the centre of Nottingham. It is open from 10.30am to 6.00pm on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

The clinic is run by one doctor who 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 a legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. There is another clinic in Derby run by the same provider.

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. At Prime Health & Beauty - Nottingham, the aesthetic cosmetic treatments that are also provided are exempt by law from CQC regulation. Therefore we were only able to inspect the treatment for weight reduction and not the aesthetic cosmetic services.

At our last inspection on 19 November 2013 we asked the provider to make improvements regarding sharing information with other health professionals, prescribing medicines outside national guidance and the complaints procedure.   We checked these areas as part of this comprehensive inspection and found that they had been resolved.

We spoke with three people on the day of the inspection and received feedback from 52 people who completed comment cards before our visit.   People said they found staff at the clinic friendly, helpful and supportive.  They said the doctor made time for them and felt she was thorough in her approach.   

Our key findings were:

  • Overall the clinic provided an effective service
  • Arrangements were in place to manage medicines in a way that kept people safe
  • There was a treatment protocol in place which was followed
  • Feedback from patients was positive.   People told us that staff were helpful, and that additional time was allowed for the first appointment
  • There were a number of policies and procedures in place to govern activity

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

  • Ensure that staff undertake training on safeguarding vulnerable adults appropriate to their role
  • Ensure that recruitment procedures are followed and that the relevant checks are made on clinical staff in line with Schedule 3 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014

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:

  • .Ensure a system is in place for regular and appropriate cleaning, inspection, calibration, maintenance and replacement of equipment
  • Only supply unlicensed medicines against valid special clinical needs of an individual patient where there is no suitable licensed medicine available
  • Review their arrangements for dealing with medical emergencies
  • Consider how to make the service accessible to patients who don't speak English

20 November 2013

During a routine inspection

The inspection date on the front page of this report is incorrect and should read 19 November 2013.

One patient told us and a survey conducted about the manager showed that most patients thought that respect was shown to them. Records showed that patients were involved in decisions about treatment initially, but that there was not enough information to show patients were involved on a continuous basis.

Treatment records were written in enough detail to show the treatment that had been prescribed and to provide an on-going record of progress.

Medicines were stored appropriately and records were maintained to provide a clear audit trail for controlled drugs. However, the manager prescribed medicines for the treatment of obesity against national guidance and there were inadequate systems to ensure patients' GPs were advised when this occurred.

The manager completed enough training each year to maintain their registration and licence to practice with the General Medical Council.

The service had a policy and procedure to guide patients in how to make a complaint but there was inadequate information about taking complaints further. Patients said they were not aware of the complaints procedure.

9 October 2012

During a routine inspection

People who use services did not want to speak with us during our inspection so we inspected care plans, documentation and talked with staff to evaluate the quality of care provided to people using the service at SDC UK Limited t/a Prime Health & Beauty Clinic ' Nottingham.

We found that before people received any care or treatment they were asked for their consent and the provider acted in accordance with their wishes. We found that people experienced care, treatment and support that met their needs. We also found that the provider took steps to assess the quality of the service being provided and people's personal records including medical records were accurate and fit for purpose. However, we found that people were not protected against the risks associated with medicines because the provider did not have appropriate arrangements in place to manage medicines.