A cosmetic surgery provider has been ordered to pay £5,070 at Bromley Magistrates’ Court, after it failed to display its Care Quality Commission (CQC) performance ratings which is in breach of the CQC regulations (Regulation 20A).
The Pemberdeen Laser Cosmetic Surgery Clinic Limited, which runs The Belvedere Private Hospital in Knee Hill, London, was fined £500 in court on Thursday 2 September. It was also ordered to pay £4,520 costs and a £50 surcharge.
Dr Nigel Acheson, CQC’s Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals, said:
“This was an egregious breach of our regulations by The Pemberdeen Laser Cosmetic Surgery Clinic Limited and I welcome the decision of the court as this was completely unacceptable.
“We expect all providers to demonstrate transparency, openness and honesty in the quality of care provided.
“When providers are not open and transparent, this could signal a risk to patient safety. It also does not allow patients to be empowered to make an informed choice for whatever treatment they wish to choose.
“I hope this prosecution reminds providers that we will not tolerate any breach of the regulations and will take action to protect patients.”
CQC has brought this case because although the hospital had a link to the CQC’s website where the latest inspection report could be found, this was not displayed conspicuously. It took an inspector over 15 minutes to locate CQC’s report from The Belvedere Private Hospital’s website, which would also make it difficult for a member of the public to find CQC latest report as well.
Furthermore, on The Belvedere Private Hospital home page, there was a statement: ‘Click here to see our latest CQC report by CQC investigations.’ This link led to a report entitled ‘Mock CQC report’. The mock CQC inspection report had been undertaken by a company named ‘CQC investigations'. This report displayed different, more positive ratings than those awarded by CQC.
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