CHRISTCHURCH CLINICS

Updated 8 February 2023

This service is provided by Christchurch Pharmacy Limited. Christchurch Clinics is a private medical clinic on the High Street in Braintree, Essex. The service has a small car park at the back, which can be accessed free of charge by patients attending the clinic. There is also a multi-story car park a short walk away. Entrance to the service is intercom controlled. This service is provided to both adults and children.

The regulated aspects of this service are provided by GMC and GPC registered clinicians as well as a health care support assistant. Support is provided by a service manager and administrative staff who are shared between Christchurch Pharmacy Limited’s different services. Christchurch Clinics provides general medical services including health screening, contraception and vaccinations. The service also provides treatment for hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating) and carries out ear micro-suction. The service provides the regulated activities of: Treatment of disease, disorder or injury; Diagnostic and screening procedures; and Family Planning. The service website is: www.christchurchclinics.co.uk.

The service operates on Mondays to Fridays 9am to 6pm and is closed on Saturdays and Sundays. A service is not provided outside of these hours. Surgical procedures and the prescribing of medicines at the service is carried out by the clinical doctor. The service employs a GP, clinical pharmacists, health care assistant and reception staff who oversee appointments and administration for all patients.

How we inspected this service

Before visiting we reviewed a range of information we hold about the service and information provided pre-inspection by the service. This included:

• Key policies and protocols which related to regulated activities.
• The systems in place for the running of the service.
• Feedback received via the CQC online form.

During our inspection we:

• Spoke with the registered provider.
• Observed the premises where services were delivered from.
• Checked the environment and infection control measures.
• Explored how clinical decisions were made.
• Spoke with staff involved in the regulated activities.
• Observed staff interactions with patients via telephone and in person.
• Reviewed patient feedback received by the provider.

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 8 February 2023

This service is rated as Good overall. (The previous inspection was completed on 05 March 2019 and was an unrated inspection)

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 CHRISTCHURCH CLINICS as part of our inspection programme and to provide a rating for this service.

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. CHRISTCHURCH CLINICSprovides a range of non-surgical cosmetic interventions, for example microdermabrasion, skin peels and dermal fillers which are not within CQC scope of registration. Therefore, we did not inspect or report on these services.

The GP 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 requested the service share a link to our ‘Give Feedback on Care’ form. 7 people provided feedback about the service.

Our key findings were:

• The service provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
• Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
• Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
• The service organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
• The way the service was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centred care.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Implement an ongoing programme of clinical audit.
• Take steps to make sure that action plans have an identified person responsible for actions and for updating the plan.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

Chief Inspector of Hospitals and Interim Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services