The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated Discover Laser Ltd in Burnley inadequate overall and for being safe, effective, and well-led, following an inspection in January. It was rated requires improvement for being responsive to people’s needs and rated good for being caring.
This unannounced inspection was carried out as part of CQC’s checks on the safety and quality of healthcare services. Due to concerns found, the service was issued two warning notices requiring them to make significant improvements relating to safe care and treatment and systems and processes.
Discover Laser Ltd is an independent health clinic. They are registered to provide diagnostic and screening procedures, services in slimming clinics, surgical procedures and treatment of disease, disorder or Injury. The clinic also provides a range of other aesthetic services which are not regulated.
Karen Knapton, CQC’s head of hospital inspection, said:
“When we inspected Discover Laser Ltd, we found leaders didn’t always have the capacity, skills and abilities to run the service well or understand and manage the priorities and issues the service faced. Also, staff didn’t consistently have the required level of training, and we were concerned that the demand for the service was expanding quickly, without enough suitably trained staff to support it.
“Patients weren’t receiving the safe care and treatment they deserve. Staff weren’t appropriately assessing or managing risks to people and they didn’t always complete and update risk assessments which could put people at risk of harm.
“We also found incidents were sometimes not reported, and the service didn’t always safely record and store medicines. It was worrying that the emergency equipment wasn’t being checked safely. Additionally, care and treatment guidance and policies weren’t always up to date, and they didn’t meet cosmetic surgery standards which could put people at risk.
“However, we did find that staff treated patients with compassion and kindness and were focused on providing good care to meet the needs of each individual patient.
“Overall, due to significant concerns found, we issued two warning notices to Discover Laser Ltd to make sure immediate improvements are made. We will continue to monitor the service closely and will return to check on progress.”
Inspectors found:
- Leaders did not always have the capacity, skills and abilities to run the service.
- The service did not manage patient safety incidents well.
- Staff did not complete formal risk assessments for each patient.
- The service did not demonstrate they had systems and processes to safely prescribe, administer, record and store medicines.
- Up to date care and treatment guidance and policies were not always followed by the service based on national guidance and evidence-based practice.
- Staff were not always competent for their roles and managers did not always appraise performance.
However:
- Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, and took account of their individual needs.
- Staff supported patients to understand and make decisions about their care and treatment.
The report for Discover Laser Ltd is published on our website.
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