Stratum Clinics Ltd

Updated 22 May 2023

Registered provider: Stratum Clinic Ltd

Cantay House

Park End Street

Oxford

OX1 1JD

Stratum Clinic provides consultations and dermatological treatments for a variety of conditions including minor surgery for mole removals. They provide diagnostic tests and information about potential treatments such as Eczema. Some medicines are prescribed by the service where appropriate which include treatment for alopecia (hair loss). Some of the services are not regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), such as cosmetic therapies. This report references only those services that are regulated by CQC. The service cares for approximately 2,000 patients a year. There are designated consultation and treatment rooms available.

Opening times:

Monday 9am to 5pm

Tuesday 9am to 5pm

Wednesday 9am to 5pm

Thursday 9am to 5pm

Friday 9am to 5pm

Saturday Ad hoc clinics as required

Sunday Closed

How we inspected this service

We requested information prior to inspection from the provider and conducted a site visit on 22 March 2023. We reviewed care records and documents relating to the management of the service. We spoke with clinical and non-clinical members of staff.

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 22 May 2023

This service is rated as Requires improvement overall.

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Requires improvement

Are services effective? – Requires improvement

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? – Requires improvement

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Stratum Clinics Ltd as part of our inspection programme. This was the first inspection for this service.

Stratum Clinic provides consultations and dermatological treatments for a variety of conditions such as Eczema. They provide diagnostic tests and provide information and choices about potential treatments. Some medicines are prescribed by the service when needed, which include treatment for acne. Some of the services offered are not regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), such as cosmetic therapies. This report references only those services that are regulated by CQC.

There was a registered manager in place. 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:

• Not all staff had completed safeguarding training appropriate to their role.
• Processes for managing risks, issues and performance were not always embedded.
• The provider could not be assured that patient outcomes were appropriate as no clinical audit had been conducted for treatment and procedures carried out by sessional clinicians.
• Processes to identify and implement learning from significant events and safety alerts were not fully established.
• Care was assessed and delivered on an individual basis. National guidance was considered by clinicians.
• Staff treated patients with kindness, respect and compassion.
• Clinicians were qualified and experienced in the areas of care they provided.
• There were arrangements to ensure consent was sought and that patients were fully informed about their care options.

The areas where the provider must make improvements as they are in breach of regulations are:

• Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

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