This service is rated as Good
overall.
This service was last inspected by the CQC on 19 June 2013. At that time providers were not rated but were inspected, and judgements made, across five key standards and at that inspection it was found that action was needed to address issues found in assessing and monitoring the quality of service provided. Specifically, the provider did not have in place an effective system to regularly assess and monitor the quality of patients’ records.
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? – Good
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Sk:n – Norwich, on 2 December 2021 as part of our inspection programme. During this inspection we saw evidence to show that the issues identified in 2013 had been addressed with systems that had been in place for several years.
Sk:n – Norwich is registered under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 to provide the following regulated activities:
- Diagnostic and screening procedures.
- Surgical procedures.
- Treatment of disease, disorder or injury.
This service provides independent dermatology services, offering a mix of regulated skin treatments as well as other non-regulated aesthetic treatments. 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. We only inspected and reported on the services which are within the scope of registration with the CQC.
At the time of the inspection there was no registered manager in place as the previous manager had left the organisation earlier that year. 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. However, we saw evidence that an application had been made by the Clinic Manager (Designate) for a new registered manager to be appointed, and that they were awaiting their Fit Person Interview.
Due to the current pandemic we were unable to obtain comments from patients via our normal process of asking the provider to place comment cards within the service location. However, we saw from internal surveys and reviews on social media that patients were consistently positive about the service, describing staff as professional, kind, polite, non-judgemental and caring. Patients also commented on the clinic being well maintained and clean. We did not speak with patients on the day, as there were none attending for regulated activities.
Our key findings were:
- The service had safety systems and processes in place to keep people safe. There were systems to identify, monitor and manage risks and to learn from incidents.
- There were regular reviews of the effectiveness of treatments, services, and procedures to ensure care and treatment was delivered in line with evidence-based guidelines.
- Staff treated patients with compassion, respect and kindness and involved them in decisions about their care.
- There was a clear strategy and vision for the service. The leadership and governance arrangements promoted good quality care.
Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP
Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care