The Care Quality Commission
  • Hospital
  • Independent hospital

Archived: Gro Clinics

Overall: Inadequate read more about inspection ratings

Blackfriars House, 3rd Floor, Suite 3c, Parsonage, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M3 2JA (0161) 839 3769

Provided and run by:
Pro-Med Surgical Limited

Important: This service was previously registered at a different address - see old profile

All Inspections

28 April 2022

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We did not rate this service following this inspection.
•The service did not always control infection risk well. The service did not have systems to identify and prevent surgical site infections. The service did not use systems and processes to safely prescribe, administer, record and store medicines. The service did not have a clear process for the management of incidents. Staff were not trained in how to recognise and report incidents and near misses.
The service did not make sure staff were competent for their roles. Staff did not always support patients to make informed decisions about their care and treatment. They did not follow national guidance to ensure that patients gave consent in a two-stage process with a cooling off period of at least 14 days between stages.
Leaders did not operate effective governance processes throughout the service. Staff met monthly but they did not always discuss and learn from the performance of the service. Leaders and teams did not always use systems to manage performance effectively. They did not always identify and escalate relevant risks and issues and identify actions to reduce their impact.
However:
The clinical flooring in the treatment room had recently been replaced and the clinic appeared to be clean.
We wrote to the provider under Section 31 of the Health and Social Act 2008 to consider whether to use CQC’s regulatory powers to take potential enforcement action. We did this because we had reasonable cause to believe that, unless CQC acted people would be or may have been exposed to the risk of harm. The letter was in relation to the management of medicines, staff training and competence, and systems and processes to assess monito r and improve the quality and safety of the service. The provider responded to the letter and provided detailed information on how they are going to manage the issues detailed in the Section 31 letter of intent. CQC will continue to monitor this.

16 November 2021

During a routine inspection

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.