Archived: Gro Clinics

Updated 30 June 2022

Gro Clinics Manchester is operated by Pro-Med Surgical Limited. The service provides hair transplant cosmetic surgery and platelet-rich plasma hair restoration therapy for private fee-paying adults. The service uses the follicular unit excision method of hair transplant cosmetic surgery. In follicular unit excision, individual hair follicles are extracted and then implanted into small incisions in the patient’s scalp. The service provides platelet-rich plasma hair restoration therapy as a stand-alone treatment or alongside hair transplant procedures. The therapy involves extracting plasma from the patient’s blood and injecting it into the scalp to promote hair growth.

The service employs a small team of staff made up of a clinic manager, a hair transplant technician and a hair growth specialist. The clinic manager has been in post since February 2022. The service has two doctors who attend the service to perform the surgical steps of the hair transplant procedures.

The premises used to deliver the service is a leased office suite within Blackfriars House, Manchester. Gro Clinics is on the third floor of the building which can be accessed by a lift or stairs.

Gro Clinics is registered for two regulated activities; Treatment of disease, disorder or injury and Surgical procedures. At the time of our inspection, the service did not have a registered manager. The clinic manager was in the process of applying to be the registered manager for the service.

Following our last inspection in November 2021, we issued the service with two warning notices under Section 29 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 because they were failing to comply with the relevant requirements of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. This inspection was carried out to assess compliance with the warning notices.

Updated 30 June 2022

Gro Clinics Manchester is operated by Pro-Med Surgical Limited. The service is based in Manchester city centre and provides hair transplant cosmetic surgery and platelet-rich plasma hair restoration therapy for private fee-paying adults.

The premises used to deliver the service is a leased office suite within Blackfriars House, Manchester. The building’s management company leases office space to several businesses and provides a communal café, library and meeting spaces. Gro Clinics is in suite 3C on the third floor of the building which can be accessed by the lift or stairs.

The clinic facilities are spread over six rooms, which include a reception and office area, a bathroom, a treatment room, an office, a consultation room and one room that contains a large sink area as well as a backwash sink unit that is used to shave and wash patients’ hair before procedures. The service has plans in place to lease additional office and storage space in the building.

We rated this location as inadequate because:

• Some staff had not had training in key skills including safeguarding.
• The service did not control infection risk well.
• The service did not fully assess risks to patients and record how these would be acted on.
• The service did not manage safety incidents well and learn lessons from them.
• The service did not manage medicines well.
• Managers did not have clear processes to monitor the safety and effectiveness of the service and make sure staff were competent.
• The service did not have some of the local policies, procedures and audits expected to support governance, ensure compliance with legislation and to support staff to do their roles safely.
• The service did not have a clear process for granting practising privileges to the doctors who perform the hair transplant procedures and managers did not know what qualifications, training and skills they had.
• The service did not have important recruitment documents for all staff or a list of mandatory training for each role.
• Managers did not know if the provider had a vision and values for the service.

However, we also found the following areas of good practice:

• Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity and took account of their individual needs and preferences.
• Staff worked well together for the benefit of patients and supported them to make decisions about their care.
• The service provided patients with good aftercare information.
• The service planned care to meet the needs of patients. Patients had appointments at the time they wanted them, and they were able to get advice when they needed it.
• Staff provided emotional support to patients if they needed it.

Following our inspection, we issued the provider with section 29 Warning Notices for Regulation 12 HSCA (RA) Regulations 2014 Safe care and treatment and Regulation 17 HSCA (RA) Good governance.

Updated 26 January 2022

We rated this service inadequate. See the summary above for details.