London Knightsbridge Cosmetic Clinic Ltd

Updated 15 June 2018

London Knightsbridge Cosmetic Clinic Ltd is an independent provider of aesthetic medical services and treats adults over 18 in in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. London Knightsbridge Cosmetic Clinic Ltd is registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide the regulated activities surgical procedures and treatment of disease, disorder or injury. Regulated activities are provided at one clinic location: The London Cosmetic Clinic, 3rd Floor 168 Brompton Road, Knightsbridge, London, SW3 1HW.

The registered manager is the medical director and founder of the organisation. 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.

The clinic is housed on the third floor in leased premises in Knightsbridge. Access is via a commercial property on the ground floor. The clinic is accessed via stairs. There is a client waiting area, shared administrative office and kitchen, two treatment rooms on the third floor and one treatment room on the second floor. Staff and patient toilet facilities are on the second floor. The clinic is open between 9am and 7.30pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 4.30pm on Saturday. The clinic is closed on bank holidays and Sundays. Out of hours, the medical director oversees the service email account for urgent queries and there is a 24 hour answering service for messages.

Regulated activities are provided for clients over 18. Regulated services offered at the clinic include:

Consultations and treatment for dermatological conditions including acne and rosacea; prescription skincare; minor surgical procedures including scar excisions, ear lobe repair and mole excisions; hay fever treatments and Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) therapy. The clinic sees approximately 50 clients per month who receive regulated activities which is about 40% of the total services provided by the clinic.

The service also offers the following which are not covered under the scope of our registration and as such were not inspected or reported on:

• Superficial mole and skin tag removal
• Dissolution of fat deposits
• Medical Micro-pigmentation
• Semi-permanent make up
• Facelifts
• Pulsed light and laser treatments
• Laser and pulsed light thread vein removal
• Hair removal
• Skin rejuvenation
• Cosmetic injectable

There are ten staff associated with the clinic. Services are provided by the medical director who is full time and two part time doctors who also work in the NHS and have a special interest in aesthetics. The doctors are supported by a doctor’s assistant. Administrative support is provided by a patient services co-ordinator, three administrative staff and a clinic manager. The service also employs a laser technician.

How we inspected the service:

Our inspection team was led by a CQC Lead Inspector and included a GP Specialist Advisor.

Before visiting, we reviewed a range of information we hold about the service and contacted local stakeholders, however we did not receive any information of concern from them.

During our visit we:

• Spoke with one doctor who was the director of the service and the registered manager.
• Spoke with two non-clinical staff members including the manager of the service.
• Looked at the systems in place for the running of the service.
• Viewed a sample of key policies and procedures.
• Explored how clinical decisions were made.
• Viewed six patient records.
• Made observations of the environment specifically the reception area, the waiting area, the doctors’ room, toilets and the office.
• Reviewed feedback from 19 clients including CQC comment cards.

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 15 June 2018

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 25 April 2018 to ask the service the following key questions; Are services safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led?

Our findings were:

Are services safe?

We found that this service was providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services effective?

We found that this service was providing effective care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services caring?

We found that this service was providing caring services in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services responsive?

We found that this service was providing responsive care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services well-led?

We found that this service was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the service was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

London Knightsbridge Cosmetic Clinic Ltd provides private aesthetic medical and cosmetic services at The London Cosmetic Clinic in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and treats adults over 18.

This service is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of the provision of advice or treatment by a medical practitioner, including the prescribing of medicines for aesthetic purposes. At The London Cosmetic Clinic, the cosmetic treatments that are also provided by the doctors and laser technician are exempt from CQC regulation.

We received feedback from 19 people about the service, including comment cards, all of which were very positive about the service and indicated that clients were treated with kindness and respect. Staff were described as helpful, caring, thorough and professional.

Our key findings were:

• There were arrangements in place to keep clients safe and safeguarded from abuse.
• Most health and safety and premises risks were assessed and well-managed.
• Most systems for the management of medicines were operating effectively.
• The service had some systems for learning and improving when things went wrong.
• Assessments and treatments were carried out in line with relevant and current evidence based guidance and standards.
• There was evidence of quality improvement.
• The provider had ensured that staff had appropriate inductions and training to cover the scope of their work.
• Staff treated clients with kindness, respect, dignity and professionalism.
• Opening hours reflected the needs of the population and clients were able to book appointments when they needed them.
• The service had a clear procedure for managing complaints. They took complaints and concerns seriously and responded to them appropriately to improve the quality of care.
• Leaders had the skills and capacity to deliver the service and provide high quality care.
• Staff stated they felt respected, supported and valued. They were proud to work in the service.
• The provider was aware of and had systems to ensure compliance with the requirements of the duty of candour.
• The service encouraged feedback from clients. Staff encouraged clients to leave an online review and these were used to monitor performance.

There were areas where the provider could make improvements and should:

• Review the systems for ensuring effective oversight of the health and safety needs of the service.
• Review procedures and policies for communicating with clients’ GPs and carrying out identification checks for clients to confirm age.
• Review the incident reporting procedure for the service.
• Review systems for recording verbal concerns and complaints and systems for recording learning points and action taken following complaints.