Natasha Lucy Clinics

Updated 21 December 2022

Natasha Lucy Clinics is an independent provider of medical services. The service provides a broad range of aesthetic services that are not regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC),but some services that are, including hyperhidrosis for excessive sweating, Botox for migraines and IV vitamin therapy. This report references only those services that are regulated by CQC. The service is provided to adults only.

Natasha Lucy Clinics is based at Suite B2A, Sterling House, Langston Road, Loughton, IG10 3TS. The service is for private fee-paying patients only, the service does not see NHS patients. The provider is registered with the CQC to deliver the regulated activity of treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

The service is self-contained within a business unit, with patients checking in at reception. The service has two clinic rooms.

The service operates Monday from 12pm until 8pm and Tuesday to Friday 10am until 5pm and one Saturday a month. The service does not formally provide a service outside of these hours. Prescriptions at the service are conducted by the nurse practitioner. The service employs one clinic manager, one receptionist and a therapist.

How we inspected this service

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 21 December 2022

This service is rated as Requires improvement overall.

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Requires improvement

Are services effective? – Requires improvement

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? – Requires improvement

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Natasha Lucy Clinics on 22 November 2022. This was the first CQC inspection of this location under the current CQC inspection methodology.

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. Natasha Lucy Clinics provides a range of non-surgical cosmetic interventions, for example skin care, which are not within CQC scope of registration. Therefore, we did not inspect or report on these services.

The Medical Director is 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 systems, processes and operating procedures to manage incidents and to safeguard patients from abuse and the clinical environment. However, we found improvements were required to safety processes, specifically medicines management, patient identification checks and information needed to deliver safe care and treatment.
• The service monitored the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence based guidelines and that staff had the skills, knowledge and training to provide an effective service. However, the service did not always obtain consent to care and treatment in line with legislation and guidance.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• The service organised and delivered services to meet patient’s needs. Patients were well informed about aspects of the service provided.
• The registered manager had the capacity and skills to deliver high-quality, sustainable care. However, we found some systems and processes, specifically around medicines management and information needed to deliver safe care and treatment, were not consistently applied and managed.

The areas where the provider must make improvements as they are in breach of regulations are:

• Ensure care and treatment is provided in a safe way to patients.
• 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).

In addition, the areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Continue to seek assurances that emergency medical equipment is properly maintained, in line with medical devices regulations.
• Develop a programme of clinical audit to monitor patient outcomes, including second cycle audits.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

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