Everything Skin 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 Everything Skin Clinic as part of our inspection programme. This was the first CQC inspection for this location.

Everything Skin Clinic is a private clinic that offers outpatient services for adults and children over three years. The service specialises in skin treatments including medical, surgical, aesthetic and laser. Treatments include tattoo removal, laser hair removal, laser cancer surgery and mole mapping. Not all services delivered are within the scope of CQC regulated activities, we only inspected those that were relevant. The service is part of a wider group of services located throughout England offering private and NHS funded treatments at nine locations.

Dr Vishal Madan 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.

Comment cards were not distributed to the provider prior to the inspection in order to minimise the risks associated with the COVID -19 pandemic.

Our key findings were:

• The service was offered on a private, fee paying basis only and was accessible to patients who chose to use it.
• The service had systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen.
• The service routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided.
• The service ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence-based guidelines and current best practice.
• Medical records were well maintained and mostly comprehensive.
• The service involved and treated people with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Patients could access care and treatment from the service within an appropriate timescale for their needs. Patients fed back that access to the service was good apart from some delays answering the telephone.
• There was a focus on continuous learning and improvement, some audits were in the process of being fully developed.
• Information about services and how to complain was available. We found the systems and processes to manage and investigate complaints were in place.
• The service proactively sought feedback from patients.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Review recruitment processes to include all documentation and checks are maintained.
• Continue to develop a more comprehensive audit regime.
• Review the process for exchange of patient information with their own GP.

We found the following areas which we viewed as outstanding:

• The provider had undertaken some clinical research into the effect of laser plumes and the associated infection risk relating to Covid 19. The research and conclusions formed part of national advice for all laser treatments authored by the provider’s clinical director.
• The provision to all patients of a 24-hour contact number for access to clinical staff for advice and reassurance following treatment.

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