Sk:n Reading

Updated 11 March 2022

The registered provider is Lasercare Clinics (Harrogate) Limited, 2 Bromwich Court, 1st Floor, Gorsey Lane, Coleshill, Birmingham, B46 1JU. The provider has more than 50 locations registered with the CQC in England. The registered provider controls the governance and standards within clinics by providing policies, procedures and advice and, by auditing clinics compliance in achieving the standards.

Sk:n Reading was first registered with CQC in 2016 and is registered to treat patients aged 18 and over. The service provides several regulated activities which include doctor-led dermatology services, such as prescribing for acne and other skin conditions and minor surgical procedures including the excision of moles and other skin lesions. Activities outside the CQC scope of regulation include laser hair removal, laser tattoo removal, skin peels, dermal fillers, and acne treatments.

Sk:n Reading’s address is 52 London Street, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 4SQ. The clinic is located in the centre of Reading and can be accessed via public transport, on foot or by car. There is limited metered on street parking outside the location and several paid car parks nearby.

The clinic opening times are:

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday: 12pm to 8pm

Friday: 10am to 6pm

Saturday: 9am to 5pm

Sunday and Monday: Closed

The service is run from premises over three floors which are leased by the provider. The premises include a suite of consultation and treatment rooms, a reception area and a toilet on the ground floor. Clinical services are currently provided from a consultation room on the second floor, however patients with limited mobility could be seen on the ground floor. The main access to the premises and reception area is via a small step, however alternative access at street level is available to patients with limited mobility.

The staff team is comprised of a clinic manager and a doctor who provides sessional dermatology consultations and treatments on one day each week. There are also three practitioners providing non regulated aesthetic treatments. Staff are supported by the providers regional and national management and governance teams.

How we inspected this service

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, taking into account the circumstances arising as a result of the pandemic, and in order to reduce risk, we have conduced our inspections differently.

The inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site. This was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements.

This included:

• Speaking with staff in person on the telephone and using video conferencing.
• Requesting documentary evidence from the provider.
• A site visit.

We carried out an announced site visit to the service on 10 February 2022. Before the site visit we requested documentary evidence electronically from the provider and interviewed staff via video teleconferencing.

Due to the current pandemic, we were unable to obtain comments from patients via our normal process where we ask the provider to place comment cards in the service location. However, we were shown examples of patient feedback which the provider monitored on an ongoing basis. We did not speak to patients on the day of the site visit.

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 11 March 2022

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 of Sk:n Reading between 9 and 10 February 2022. The inspection was carried out to check whether the service was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008. This was the first inspection of the service since it registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in 2016.

The provider specialises in medical aesthetic treatments and anti-ageing medicine while also offering rejuvenation and dermatology treatments for clients. This service provides independent doctor-led dermatology services, offering a mix of regulated skin treatments and minor surgical procedures, as well as other non-regulated aesthetic treatments.

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. Sk:n Reading provides a range of non-surgical cosmetic interventions, for example, laser hair removal, laser tattoo removal, skin peels, dermal fillers, and acne treatments which are not within CQC scope of registration. Therefore, we did not inspect or report on these services.

Sk:n Reading is registered with the CQC to provide the following regulated activities:

Treatment of disease, disorder or injury, Diagnostic and screening procedures and, Surgical procedures.

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.

Our key findings were:

• The service had effective systems to monitor, detect and prevent the risk of infection.
• All staff had undertaken all mandatory training appropriate to their role.
• There were comprehensive health and safety and premises risk assessments in place.
• Staff were clear about their roles and responsibilities and explained clearly what they would do if a patient’s condition was not suitable for treatment by the service.
• Clinical records were clearly written and kept securely to maintain privacy of confidential patient information.
• Best practice guidance was followed when providing treatment to patients.
• Staff working on a sessional basis had appropriate clinical oversight to ensure they were suitable for the role and delivered care in line with best practice guidelines.
• The service asked patients for consent to communicate with their regular GP about their treatment. However, we did not see examples of letters being sent in the clinical records we examined.
• There was a chaperone policy, all staff had received chaperone training and the providers’ policy was to complete disclosure and barring service checks on all staff. When patients called the providers’ national contact centre they were told that chaperones were available, however, in the clinical room we inspected there was no notice or poster to let patients know they could ask for a chaperone.
• Where people accessing the service had additional needs such as a learning disability, the clinic was responsive and adapted to meet them so that all patients could receive care.
• Policies and procedures were reviewed frequently to make sure they had up to date information and guidance to support staff. When changes were made there was an effective system for communicating these to staff.
• Senior leaders were clear about the risks and challenges facing the services and had a strategy and vision on how to address these.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Review processes for reminding patients that chaperones are available.
• Review the system for notifying patients’ GP practices about treatment and prescribing of medication.

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