Changes Clinic Limited

Updated 22 March 2023

Changes Clinic Limited is based in Portsmouth, Hampshire and provides a range of skin treatments, most of which are aesthetic and do not fall within the scope of registration with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The provider Changes Clinic Limited is registered with CQC because it offers minor surgical removal of moles and skin lesions (about 50 treatments a month) and sclerotherapy for treatment of spider veins (about 5 a month). Sclerotherapy treatments involved the surgical injection of a salt solution into the veins. The surgeon who carries out these treatments is contracted to work within the clinic’s governance arrangements. The clinic offers treatments for adults only.

The registered location is also known as Changes Clinic Limited and its address is:

Building 1000

Lakeside North Harbour

Portsmouth

Hampshire

PO6 3EN

Changes Clinic Limited is registered to provide the following regulated activities: treatment of disease, disorder or injury, diagnostic and screening procedures and surgical procedures. It was first registered with CQC in 2013 and last inspected in January 2018.

Changes Clinic Limited is located within a large building close to road and rail links. There is parking on site, and access to the clinic on the second floor is by stairs or by lift. Within the clinic there is a reception desk and waiting room and treatment rooms. There is a dedicated room for minor surgical procedures.

The clinic is open Monday to Saturday and some Sundays by request. Treatments within scope of registration are offered on Mondays between 12pm and 8pm, alternate Fridays between 9am and 12pm, also appointments were offered between 10am and 4pm on one Saturday a month.

The clinic’s website, www.changesclinic.co.uk, outlines the treatments offered and prices.

How we inspected this service

We inspected this service on 1 February 2023. We requested information from the service, spoke with staff and reviewed documentation.

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 March 2023

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 inspection at Changes Clinic Limited as part of our inspection programme. It had been inspected previously in January 2018. At that time, we did not rate this type of service. This was the first inspection since ratings were introduced.

This service is registered with the Care Quality Commission (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. Changes Clinic Limited provides a range of non-surgical cosmetic interventions, for example dermal fillers and skin tightening, which are not within CQC scope of registration. Therefore, we did not inspect or report on these services. We inspected services within scope of registration: mole and lesion removal and sclerotherapy for varicose veins. Scleropathy is the surgical injection of a salt solution to treat spider veins.

The service’s managing director and owner is also 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 systems to keep people safe and safeguarded from abuse. The provider had systems for assessing and monitoring patient risks. Staff understood responsibilities to raise concerns and report incidents and near misses.
• Regulated treatments met patients’ needs and were based on best practice guidelines. Patient feedback on the experience of care and outcome of treatment was monitored.
• Staff were trained appropriately and staff training, development and appraisal was recorded.
• Patient views were sought to inform and improve practice.
• Services were offered to meet patients’ needs and treatments were offered at convenient times.
• Staff worked together to create a culture of compassion and person-centred care. Leaders were visible and understood the needs and risks of the business.

The area where the provider should make improvements is:

• To continue to ensure that staff complete their required training.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

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