Archived: Universal Medical Centre Ltd

Updated 4 May 2018

Universal Medical Centre Ltd carries out occupational health assessments and medicals for patients under arrangements made by their employer with whom the service user holds a policy (other than a standard health insurance policy). Services provided under these arrangements include occupational health advice, sickness absence intervention guidance and diagnostic and health screening and a range of travel health services and vaccinations. These types of arrangements are exempt by law from CQC regulation.

The service is also registered to provide the regulated activity of Treatment of disease, disorder or injury. At the time of this inspection, the service had not yet commenced providing this service. The Registered Manager told us they planned to employ a GP with a view to providing a private consulting doctor service but this plan had not yet been realised.

The service employs one Occupational Health Nurse who is also the majority shareholder and a director of the provider organisation.

The service is located on the ground floor of a property previously used as a GP surgery in the Tottenham area of the London Borough of Haringey. With a very small number of exceptions, patients are seen at the premises of their employers and the registered location is currently used for administrative and storage purposes only. The registered manager told us that the only exceptions were a small number of patients who had self-referred for occupational health advice.

The sole employee, an Occupational Health Nurse, 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.

As part of our inspection we also asked for CQC comment cards to be completed by patients prior to our inspection. We received nine completed comment cards where people who had used the service shared their views and experiences of the service. Patients spoke highly of the service, which they described as professional, helpful and friendly.

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.

Our inspection team consisted of a CQC Lead Inspector, a practice nurse Specialist Advisor and a second inspector.

The inspection team:-

• Carried out an announced inspection at Universal Medical Centre on 6 March 2018.
• Spoke with staff.
• Reviewed patient feedback from the completed CQC comment cards.
• Reviewed the service’s policies and procedures and other documentation made available by the provider in relation to the running of the service.

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 4 May 2018

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 6 March 2018 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.

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.

This service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 to provide the regulated activity of Treatment of Disease, Disorder or Injury. During the inspection, it was determined that the provider was currently providing services which are not regulated by CQC and was not carrying out the regulated activity for which they were registered. There are some exemptions from regulation by CQC which relate to particular types of service and these are set out in Schedule 2 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. At Universal Medical Centre Limited occupational health services are provided to patients under arrangements made by their employer with whom the service user holds a policy (other than a standard health insurance policy). These types of arrangements are exempt by law from CQC regulation. Therefore, at Universal Medical Centre Limited, we were only able to inspect the services which are not arranged for patients by their employers with whom the patient holds a policy (other than a standard health insurance policy).

The Occupational Health Nurse who is also the majority shareholder, director and the sole employee of the organisation 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.

Universal Medical Centre Limited is registered to provide the regulated activity of Treatment of Disease, Disorder or Injury service to adults and children. The Registered Manager told us the service had registered to provide this regulated activity because it planned to employ a GP in order to provide a private consulting doctor service. However at the time of this inspection, the service had not followed through with this plan and had not yet undertaken the regulated activity. The service team consists of an Occupational Health Nurse who is also a registered nurse. There are no other staff employed by the service.

On the day of inspection we collected nine CQC comment cards filled in by people who had used the service under arrangements made by their employer. This information gave us a positive view of the service.

During the inspection we spoke with the director of the organisation. We looked at service policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.

Our key findings were:

• The service had arrangements in place for safeguarding which reflected relevant legislation and local requirements.
• The service kept stocks of vaccines on the premises and had systems for monitoring the temperature of the medicine fridge used for storing vaccinations.
• The provider had made arrangements to receive peer support from an occupational health professional who worked in an NHS organisation, although this was an informal arrangement.
• The person delivering the service was conscious of high levels of anxiety and would help to put people at their ease.
• The service had a complaint policy and procedure in place and these were in line with recognised guidance although the service told us they had not received any complaints to date.
• There were effective arrangements in line with data security standards for the availability, integrity and confidentiality of patient identifiable data, records and data management systems including during transport.
• The practice had arrangements to ensure that facilities and equipment were safe and in good working order.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

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

• Review current registration arrangements and consider de-registering as a provider if plans to provide a regulated activity are not followed through.
• Consider the timing around when to undertake an audit to prevent and control the risks associated with infection prevention and control and fire safety to ensure these are completed prior to providing services at the registered premises.