Elixir Treatments Limited

Updated 1 March 2023

The address of the registered location is 4 Northcroft Villas, Englefield Green, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0DZ.

Elixir Treatments was first registered with CQC in November 2020 and is only registered to treat adults. The service provides several services such as treatment of hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating), treatment of migraines and weight-loss or obesity management services. Activities outside of CQC scope of registration include anti-ageing injections, chemical peels and skin care advice.

Regulated activities are provided from 4 Northcroft Villas, Englefield Green, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0DZ. This address is in a residential area which can be accessed via public transport, car or on foot and parking is available at the location.

The premises are a residential property which is accessed at street level. Services are provided from a consultation room on the first floor which is accessed via the stairs. The premises do not have a lift. There is a downstairs toilet and parking is available at the premises and on the road.

The service does not employ any staff and is owned by the registered manager who is responsible for all administration and management duties and, delivering clinical services.

The clinic opening times are:

Monday: 11am to 6pm

Tuesday: 10am to 6pm

Wednesday: Closed

Thursday: 10am to 6pm

Friday: 12am to 5pm

How we inspected this service

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, taking into account the circumstances arising as a result of the pandemic, and in order to reduce risk, we have conducted our inspections differently.

The inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site. This was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements.

This included:

• Speaking with staff in person and on the telephone.
• Requesting documentary evidence from the provider.
• A site visit.

We carried out an announced site visit to the service on 26 January 2023. Before the site visit we requested documentary evidence electronically from the provider.

Due to the current pandemic, we were unable to obtain comments from patients via our normal process where we ask the provider to place comment cards in the service location. However, we asked the provider to provide patients with a link to our give feedback on care page on our website. We did not speak to patients on the day of the site visit.

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 1 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? – Requires improvement

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Elixir Treatments Ltd. The reason for the inspection was because our current inspection priorities include services that have been registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) for over 12 months without being inspected. Elixir Treatments Ltd met this criteria because it registered with CQC on 12 November 2020 and the provider had not been inspected.

Elixir Treatments Ltd provides treatment of hyperhidrosis (excess sweating), headaches and obesity. These treatments are provided via a nurse-led service which also offers other non-regulated aesthetic treatments.

This service is registered with 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. Elixir Treatments Ltd provides a range of non-surgical cosmetic interventions, for example dermatological skin care treatments, anti-ageing injectables, dermal fillers and chemical peels which are not within CQC scope of registration. Therefore, we did not inspect or report on these services.

Elixir Treatments Ltd is registered with the CQC to provide the following regulated activities:

• Diagnostic and screening procedures.
• Treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

The sole practitioner is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the CQC 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:

• Systems and processes to keep patients safe and safeguarded from abuse were operated effectively.
• Systems and processes to identify, manage and reduce infection prevention and control (IPC) and other environmental risks were fully embedded within the service.
• Medicines requiring refrigeration were stored safely and managed in line with recommended guidance.
• Clinical records were written clearly and contained accurate information to ensure care and treatment was provided safely.
• Patients were told of the risks and potential complications or side effects before they received treatment.
• The service supported patients to be involved in and make decisions about their care.
• Care and treatment was patient-centred and delivered kindly and compassionately.
• The service had considered the needs of patients which may need reasonable adjustments to access care and treatment.
• Governance systems existed but were not effective in all areas and did not always follow national guidance.

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.

(Please see the specific details on action required at the end of this report).

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Review the emergency medicines and equipment stocked and consider increasing those selected so the service is able to better equipped to manage medical emergencies that may occur.
• Align the services’ health screening policy with recommendations in national guidance.
• Review all policies to ensure they contain accurate information and are specific to this service.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

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