Archived: Courthouse Clinics Body Limited Watford

Updated 30 August 2019

Courthouse Clinics Body Limited Watford situated at 34 The Avenue, Watford, Hertfordshire is an independent provider of a range of services including the delivery of a weight loss programme and minor surgical procedures. These are the only services which falls within the scope of CQC registration. The inspection and report therefore only cover this aspect of the service. The weight loss programme is available to anyone over the age of 18 years and involves regular monitoring.

Further details about the full range of services provided can be found on the location’s website: www.courthouseclinics.com.

The service is open Monday to Saturday and operates varied opening times.

Patients can access appointments by telephone or in person.

Staffing includes four doctors (the doctors are shared across the provider’s various locations), nurse practitioner, a clinic manager, four therapists, and a receptionist. There is also weight loss co-ordinator who supports all patients on the weight loss programme at all the provider’s locations.

The provider is registered with CQC for the following regulated activities: Diagnostic and screening procedure and Treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

At the time of our inspection the provider told us that they undertook minor surgical procedures. We advised that their current registration with the CQC did not cover the regulated activity surgical procedures for Courthouse Clinics Body Limited Watford location. We have asked the provider to stop this activity and to apply to the CQC to add the regulated activity of surgical procedures.

How we inspected this service

Before visiting, we reviewed information we hold about the service, including information from the previous inspection. We also asked the provider to send us some information about the service.

During our visit we:

• Spoke with the doctors and clinic staff.
• Reviewed comment cards where patients shared their views and experiences of the service.
• Reviewed documentary evidence that was made available to us relating to the running of the service.
• We reviewed a sample of patient records to understand how the provider assessed and documented patients care and treatment. We also used this to assess how consent was obtained.
• We made observations of the facilities that were used for providing 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 30 August 2019

This service is rated as Good overall.

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Requires improvement

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? – Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 8 July 2019 at Courthouse Clinics Body Limited Watford as part of our inspection programme.

Summary of findings

The provider Courthouse Clinics Body Limited has seven locations nationally and provides a range of face, body and skin treatments privately.

The location Courthouse Clinics Body Limited Watford 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.

A range of non-surgical cosmetic interventions, for example anti-aging aesthetic procedures and laser hair removal which are available at Courthouse Clinics Body Limited Watford are not within CQC scope of registration. Therefore, we did not inspect or report on these services.

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.

We received patient feedback on the service through the seven CQC comment cards completed. All were positive about the service they received and were very complimentary about the staff.

Our key findings were:

• Some safety checks such as medical equipment calibrations and staff vaccination status in line with current Public Health England (PHE) guidance were not in place.
• The provider undertook minor surgical procedures. However, the current registration with the CQC did not cover the regulated activity surgical procedures for Courthouse Clinics Body Limited Watford location.
• Patients were supported appropriately throughout their treatment programme.
• The provider proactively sought patient feedback and used this to support further improvements.
• The clinic organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs.
• There were systems in place to respond to incidents and complaints. Learning from incidents and complaints was shared.

The areas where the provider must make improvements are:

• Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care.
• Ensure the service is registered to provide the regulated activity surgical procedures.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Develop plans so legionella risk assessments are made by a competent person who is suitably informed, instructed, trained and assessed as required by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
• Organise an evaluation of the weight loss programme.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care