My Access Clinic

Updated 17 September 2021

MMJ Clinic Group Limited (the provider) delivers the regulated activity Treatment of disease, disorder or injury for adults (aged 18 or over) from one location situated at:

My Access Clinic (MAC),

May Wellness Centre,

4 Redland Court Road,

Bristol

BS6 7EE.

The location is a rented room within a CQC registered location of a separate provider.

MAC has a number of satellite branches (usually for half or one day each week) at:

• The Tower Clinic, 8 Tinshill Lane, Cookridge, Leeds LS16 7AP
• Wilbraham Place Practice, 9a Wilbraham Place, Belgravia, London SW1X 9AE
• Pall Mall Medical, Pall Mall Court, 61 King Street, Manchester M2 4PD
• Pall Mall Medical, 5 St Pauls Square, Liverpool L3 9SJ
• Consulting Rooms 38 Ltd., 38 Harborne Road, Birmingham B15 3EB

They also refer London patients to: The OAD Clinic, 25a Eccleston Street, London SW1W 9NP.

For patients unable to travel to the clinics (and for all patients since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic) MAC offers services via telephone, using secure, dedicated medical use software.

All patients initially access services via phone (weekdays 9am to 5pm) or website enquiries that are then assessed by a clinician for suitability. The website address is: www.myaccessclinics.co.uk

Specialist doctors are employed to prescribe medicinal cannabis products to patients with pain, anxiety and depression. These prescribing doctors are on a GMS Specialist Register and have experience in pain management, psychiatry, neurorehabilitation (brain injury) and anaesthetics. MAC employs qualified nurses to carry out initial assessments of patients and administration support staff.

All patients are seen via appointment, which can be booked over the telephone or via their website.

How we inspected this service

We requested information from the provider before the inspection, this included information on scope of service provision; minutes of clinical or other meetings held; policies and procedures related to the running of the service; and details of staff employed by the service.

We reviewed information held on our systems and reports of previous monitoring activities we have carried out.

We carried out a site visit on 15 July 2021 and interviewed members of staff, which included the registered manager and doctors working for the service. We looked at the room the service used, and reviewed records related to the health and safety of the premises.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions we were unable to speak with patients at the time of the inspection, but reviewed feedback the provider had gathered from patients about the running of 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 17 September 2021

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 My Access Clinic as part of our inspection programme.

My Access Clinic (MAC) provide cannabis-based products for medicinal use (CBPMs) to patients with pain, anxiety or depression who have not been successful with conventional treatments.

The clinical director 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.

Our key findings were:

• There were clear aims, objectives and ethos in place, and this was confirmed by clinicians and staff when we spoke with them.
• There was a clear process in place which was completed before any medicines were prescribed, which included a full health assessment and questions on what patients wanted the medicine to achieve in reducing symptoms.
• The provider had access to comprehensive and effective, secure clinical IT system that included both electronic patients records and clinical decision tools.
• Staff recruitment and training records that we reviewed were well organised and contained all the required information.
• There were appropriate policies and processes in place and implemented by clinicians, these were updated as needed.
• Patient were provided with information on the medicines being prescribed and had access to a help line for any queries they may have.
• The provider acted on feedback from patients and responded openly to any complaints made. Appropriate actions were taken when needed when improvements were needed.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Review arrangements for safeguarding training of staff to ensure they are trained to the appropriate level for their role.
• Clarify arrangements for prescribing decisions when patients are not discussed at meetings.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care