Archived: National Slimming & Cosmetic Clinics

Updated 10 November 2017

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.

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at National Slimming and Cosmetic Clinics (Sunderland) on 5 July 2017. The inspection was led by a CQC Pharmacist Specialist accompanied by a second Pharmacist Specialist.

Before visiting, we looked at a range of information that we hold about the clinic. We reviewed any notifications received and information submitted by the service in response to our provider information request.

The methods that were used during our visit included talking to patients who used the service, interviewing staff, observations and a review of documents.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask the following five questions:

• Is it safe?
• Is it effective?
• Is it caring?
• Is it responsive to people’s needs?
• Is it well-led?

These questions therefore formed the framework for the areas we looked at during the inspection.

Updated 10 November 2017

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 5 July 2017 to ask the service the following key questions; Are services safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led?

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 5 July 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.

National Slimming and Cosmetic Clinics (Sunderland) provides weight loss treatment and services, including medicines and dietary advice, to patients accessing the service. The clinic consists of a reception area and one consulting room located on the first floor of a three storey building in the city centre and parking is near by. A toilet facility is available on the clinic premises. . The clinic is open four days a week for variable hours. The service is open Wednesday 9:30am to 1:15pm, Thursday 10:00am to 1:45pm, Friday 9:30am to 1:15pm and Saturday 9.30am to 1:15pm. Slimming and obesity management services are provided for adults from 18 to 65 years of age either by appointment or on a ‘walk –in’ basis.

The clinic is staffed by a clinic manager, one receptionists and three doctors.

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.

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.

Patients completed CQC comment cards to tell us what they thought about the service.We obtained feedback about the clinic from 15 completed comment cards. The observations made were all positive and reflected that patients found staff to be friendly, helpful and professional. They also said that the environment was safe, clean and hygienic. We spoke to three patients on the day of the inspection who were also satisfied with the service.

Our key findings were:

• Staff told us that they felt supported to carry out their roles and responsibilities.
• We found feedback from patients was always positive about the care they received, the helpfulness of staff and the cleanliness of the premises.
• The provider had systems in place to monitor the quality of the service provided.

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

• Review the necessity for Chaperoning at the service and staff training requirements if necessary.
• Only supply unlicensed medicines against valid special clinical needs of an individual patient where there is no suitable licensed medicine available.

Review the process for starting medicines in patients with a body mass index less than 30 kg/m2 to ensure that national guidance and the clinic policy is followed.