Private Health Professionals

Updated 30 November 2022

Since registering in 2020, the provider Private Health Professionals Ltd. placed the services registered with CQC into dormancy whilst it moved into new premises. In October 2022, CQC carried out a site visit and registered the location:

Private Health Professionals

Tarka Leisure Centre

7 Brethren Bank

Barnstaple

Devon

EX31 2AP

The premises is situated in a newly built leisure centre and is shared with other health and well-being businesses. The private GP consulting and treatment clinic is a location of the provider, Private Health Professionals Limited. The provider is registered with the CQC in respect of the regulated activities: Diagnostic and screening procedures; Surgical and Treatment of disease, disorder or injury. There are other services which are available from the provider, but these fall outside of registration with the CQC and are not regulated or inspected.

The service has two registered managers. 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.

The provider carries the following service at this location that are regulated by CQC:

• Assessment, diagnosis and treatment of injury/disorder
• Medication reviews
• Private prescriptions
• Review of low mood
• Health checks for men and women, including a menopause clinic, fertility, contraception Pre- pregnancy counselling.
• Blood tests (taken at the local NHS hospital) and review of the results
• Joint injections
• Removal of lumps/cysts

The team of staff delivering these services comprises of two registered managers, supported by two GPs and an operations manager.

Private Health Professionals Clinic is open between 8am and 5pm Monday to Friday every week, except Bank Holidays. All appointments are pre-bookable.

How we inspected this service

We inspected the clinic on 31 October 2022. A CQC inspector led the inspection and had access to a specialist advisor.

Before visiting, we reviewed a range of information we hold about the service. We also asked the service to complete a provider information request. During our visit we:

• Spoke with the two Registered managers.
• Spoke with the clinical GP lead.
• Spoke with staff.
• Reviewed information the clinic used to deliver care and treatment plans.
• Reviewed feedback from people using the service.
• Reviewed staff responses to a CQC survey.

To get to the heart of people using the service’ 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. The methods that were used, for example talking to people using the service, their relatives / friends, interviewing staff, observations and review of documents.

Updated 30 November 2022

This service is rated as GOOD. This was the first inspection of this service since the provider first registered in December 2020.

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 Private Health Professionals under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the service was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

The provider Private Health Professionals Ltd. is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of some, but not all, of the services it provides. The services falling under CQC registration are private GP consultation and treatment service to patients. Patients who require care for long term conditions or co-morbidities are referred back to their NHS Primary Care GP. Only these services were inspected.

There are some general exemptions from regulation by CQC which relate to particular types of service and these are set out in Schedule 2 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. These include sports therapy, health and well-being services including non-surgical cosmetic treatments. Services provided to patients under arrangements made by their employer/ a government department/ an insurance provider with whom the servicer user holds an insurance policy (other than a standard health insurance policy are also exempt by law from CQC regulation.

Two of the company directors are registered managers with CQC. 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.

During the inspection, we reviewed online patient reviews and feedback to the friends and family survey run continuously by the service. Their comments described the service as efficient, flexible and personalised. Staff were said to be caring, efficient and knowledgeable.

Our key findings were:

• Private Health Professionals had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. They understood that should any incidents happen, the provider saw this as an opportunity to learn and improve their processes.
• The provider routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured care and treatment was delivered according to evidence based guidelines and up to date information.
• People using the service received an individualised health assessment.
• Staff involved and treated people with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• There was a strong leadership structure in place with clear responsibilities, roles and systems of accountability to support good governance and management. Staff felt supported by the leadership team and worked well together as a team.
• The provider was aware of the requirements of the duty of candour, which were underpinned by policies and procedure3s.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Review the cold chain arrangements to include documented daily temperature checks.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

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