Archived: The Havelock Clinic

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 at The Havelock Clinic as part of our inspection programme.

The service provides advice and treatment for clients experiencing sexual problems such as erectile dysfunction or low libido.

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. The Havelock Clinic provides a range of psychosexual and specialist physiotherapy interventions, which are not within CQC scope of registration. Therefore, we did not inspect or report on these services.

The lead clinician 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 were not able to speak to any patients on the day of inspection and the service was unable to collect comment cards due to the sessional renting of rooms. However, we received seven CQC ‘share your experience’ forms during the week of inspection. These were positive about the quality of care and ease of access.

Our key findings were:

• There was clear systems and processes to safeguard patients from abuse. All staff had received training appropriate to their role.
• Risks associated with the service, such as fire and infection control, were managed by the building where rooms were rented on a sessional basis. These were accessible to the Havelock Clinic management staff.
• Staff members were knowledgeable and had the experience and skills required to carry out their roles. Several members of staff were involved in national sexual problems groups that developed the most up-to-date guidance and were considered experts in their field.
• The Havelock Clinic ensured all staff had received mandatory training and an annual appraisal from their NHS employer. The service also held development conversations on a yearly basis however, these were not documented formally.
• Clinical records were detailed and held securely. The service did not keep paper records.
• There were regular service meetings and formal communication with staff via e-mails and webinars.
• The provider had plans in place to manage and learn from complaints or significant events.
• The Harley Street building offered a chaperone service however, the provider was unable to tell us if these staff had received Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks. These staff were non-clinical. The service offered chaperones to all patients however, no patients had used this service.
• Patients were able to book appointments online. The provider then contacted the patient to ensure they were seeing the most appropriate clinician. The service had developed webinar sessions to share information and support patients without the cost of a face-to-face appointment. Patient feedback from these sessions was very positive.
• Patients were encouraged to give feedback every six months and when they saw a new clinician. This was analysed and shared with the team. The provider understood the challenge of collecting patient feedback within sexual health and had changed its systems to give more opportunity for patients to feedback.
• The provider had oversight of all results and consultations. This ensured that results were actioned appropriately and delays were highlighted.
• All staff were aware of the clinic values and passionate about providing high level multi-disciplinary (MDT) care. The service also aimed to increase the knowledge of the local population and local health care professionals by providing training courses and events.
• The service provided bespoke services for LGBTQ+ patients to ensure equality of opportunity and information.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Formalise the relationship between the Havelock Clinic and the building maintenance and chaperone service.
• Formalise and document yearly supervisions and development conversations with staff members.

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