Archived: Diet UK Bolton

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 29 November 2017 where breaches of legal requirements were found. After the comprehensive inspection, the service wrote to us to say what they would do to meet legal requirements in relation to a breach of regulations 12 and 13 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

We undertook this announced focused inspection to check that they had followed their plan and to confirm that they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to those requirements. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Diet UK Bolton on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Our key findings were:

• Staff had received training in safeguarding and basic life support
• A legionella risk assessment had been completed by an external company
• The risk-assessment for the provision of medicines and equipment for use in a medical emergency had been updated and improved
• New processes were in place to ensure patients had their blood pressure monitored appropriately during the initiation and titration of treatment
• We saw improvements in medical record keeping, in particular the rationale for supplying more than 30 days’ treatment

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

Continue to make improvements to the clinical audit process to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of the treatments prescribed.

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 29 November 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 not providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations

Are services effective?

We found that this service was not 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.

Diet UK Bolton offers a private weight reduction service for adults over the age of 18. The clinic is on the first floor of a larger private health centre, and comprises of reception and office areas and one clinic room. The clinic is open for pre-booked consultations on Tuesdays from 11:00am to 2:00pm and on Wednesdays from 12:00pm to 2:00pm and 4:00pm to 5:30pm. The clinic employs two doctors, one of whom is the registered manager, one receptionist and a practice 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. There is also a branch location which is located in Preston town centre and patients can be seen at either location.

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. At Diet UK Bolton, the aesthetic cosmetic treatments that are also provided are exempt by law from CQC regulation. Therefore we were only able to inspect the treatment for weight reduction but not the aesthetic cosmetic services.

Our key findings were:

• The facilities were appropriate to meet people’s needs
• There was an annual audit schedule in place, which included audits of administrative duties, medical records, and weight loss
• Staff were caring, supportive, and treated patients with dignity and respect
• The manager encouraged an open and honest culture, staff were given the opportunity to contribute, and they were respected and valued for their contributions

We identified regulations that were not being met and the provider must:

• Ensure that care and treatment is provided in a safe way for service users
• Ensure systems and processes are established and operated effectively to prevent the abuse of service users

You can see full details of the regulations not being met at the end of this report.

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

• Review risk assessments with regard to medical emergencies